


Surviving Harris

by JoieNicole



Category: Krashlyn - Fandom, USWNT - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-19 23:44:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 62,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4765442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoieNicole/pseuds/JoieNicole
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>23 years after the World Cup, Ali and Ashlyn Harris have created a life for themselves. They are moms, coaches for the USWNT, and admired by their fans. How well will they juggle the careers while trying to raise their 6, hard to control, children in the spot light?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Family

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is really just a lot of information needed to kind of get the story's details down. The story will start more in the second chapter! Thanks for reading!

Ali’s hand absent mindedly finds the scar on her knee from where she tore her ACL all those years ago. That was such a hard time but she got through it. She worked hard to get back and they won the World Cup. She couldn’t help but smile at the memory. So much has changed since then. 23 years later and she is laying in her bed next to her wife who is starting to stir. Being pulled out of her thoughts she stares at Ashlyn waiting to see if she is going to wake up. After a moment Ashlyn stills and her breathing evens back out allowing Ali to go back down memory lane. She does this a lot, especially when she is worried. It’s 6:24 am and she should be asleep. In just a few hours she and Ashlyn will be getting on a plane to fly to a small training camp for this USWNT. This time as coaches. Ali has accepted the Head coach position and Ashlyn is the goalkeeper coach. She loved being the coach. What she didn’t love was leaving her kids behind.

She loved her kids and, yeah, she would miss them, but her main concern was what she would return home to. She honestly just prayed the house would still be standing. Jeez her kids are a handful. Whatever made them want to have 6 kids?! It started out simple. Right after their one year anniversary they adopted their oldest, Ava. She is now 22, an assistant social worker, and living a few miles from them in LA with her wife, Kate. They then decided they wanted to expand the family and Ali started doing IVF treatments. 2 years later they had their son, Tyler, who is now 20. A few years ago he moved to Colorado to “find himself” and they don’t really hear from him much anymore. Honestly, they are just happy to get a phone call on Mother’s Day and Christmas. Then came Eli. He can never sit still, even at 19, and he could easily eat everything in the house. Then there was the twins. Oh, the twins. Ashlyn decided she wanted to experience pregnancy thinking one kid can’t be that bad. Well nine months and two babies later she decided she would leave all future baby making to Ali. The twins, Micah and Matt, are now 16 and the biggest handful of them all. They constantly stay in trouble and have taken years off their mothers’ lives due to stress. Micah is definitely the mastermind of the two. She knows exactly how to bend rules and takes crap from no one. Matt is her right hand man ready to help cause the chaos.

Ali was finally starting to doze off when she heard her bedroom door open. She glanced over and saw that it was now 7:15 am. Of course, like clockwork. She watched as Parker walked over to Ashlyn’s side of the bed. Parker was the youngest of the Harris clan and he milked every bit of it. They adopted him as a baby 10 years ago and knew that the family was finally complete. Parker began lightly tapping Ashlyn’s shoulder waiting for her to realize that her personal alarm clock was here and ready for her to get up. After a moment Ashlyn popped open her eyes.

“Morning buddy.”

“Morning Mama. Will you make pancakes today?”

Ashlyn pretended to think before answering, “Um. Yes.”

As he started to leave Ali got his attention.

“Hey Park will you wake up Micah and Matt for me? Eli is probably already up.”

Parker immediately froze. His eyes saying, Please no. Ash laughed and told him not to worry about it that she would get them. After he left Ashlyn rolled over snuggling into her wife. She glanced up and let out a deep breath.

“Really Al?”

“What?”

“Did you sleep at all?”

Ali didn’t answer. She just looked around the room trying not to make eye contact. Ash gave up, laughing already knowing how her wife is. She stood up, stretched and reached down taking Ali’s hand.

“Come on beautiful. It’s going to be a long morning.”


	2. No. Parties.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So here you go! I've already started chapter 3 and I'm sure by the end of this chapter you will have an idea where it's going.

Ali went ahead and started pulling out the breakfast food knowing that it was going to take Ashlyn awhile to get the twins moving. She was listening to Parker talk about a new game on his iPad when she heard her wife’s voice from upstairs.

“Micah I’m not playing. You’re too old for this! If I have to come back in here I will lose my mind.”

Which was followed by a loud grunt that had to be her daughter.

“Shut it!”

Ali quietly laughed at her wife. Ashlyn was always so calm with the kids. They knew to go to Ash to get out of trouble because she was more relaxed with all of them. All of them, except the twins. Ali guessed it had something to do with the fact that Ashlyn was the one who actually birthed them. It was like she took all of their antics personally. Like they got in trouble because of her.

She was still smiling when Ashlyn came in the kitchen immediately walking to the food.

“Alex, that girl is going to be the death of me.”

Ali couldn’t help but start laughing at her frustrated wife. She walked over to the blonde who was starting to cook and wrapped her arms around her waist placing light kisses on her shoulder in between chuckling.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny.”

“Now you know what I feel like with the other four. In a way it’s karma babe.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

Just then Eli came in from working out in the garage and kissed his mothers on the cheek telling them good morning before wiping his sweat all over Ali who immediately began screaming.

Ashlyn just laughed saying, “In a way it’s karma babe.” Which earned a slap from her wife.

Matt was now sitting next to Parker checking his phone and talking about baseball with Eli. Ali sat down trying to join the conversation but gave up when they started talking stats about players she has never heard of. Ashlyn was almost done cooking when Micah appeared in the kitchen.

“Awe Al, look who decided to grace us with her presence! The princess has arrived. Quick someone pull out her chair!” Ashlyn stated in the most dramatic voice she could create.

Micah just rolled her eyes before retorting, “I’m glad you think you’re funny.” And sat down with the boys.

Ash was about to explain just how funny she was when there was a knock on the door followed by Ava walking in the kitchen looking half asleep.

“Now will you tell me why I had to be here this early in the morning? I barely got any sleep, I mean look at the bags under my eyes.” She deadpanned.

“You still look the same as always.” Micah stated.

“Shut up demon.”

“I’m so glad our beautiful daughters are just wonderful rays of sunshine.” Ali said to Ash as she helped her carry the plates of food to the table.

Once the family had eaten their breakfast, the moms grabbed their luggage and met the kids in the living room. Before they could even say anything Parker started whining,

“Why can’t I just go with youuuuu?”

Which immediately got groans from his older siblings who hated his clinginess to their mothers.

“Please take him! Please!” Micah shot back.

“Seriously Mom. Then I don’t have to deal with the twins trying to kill him while I’m in charge.” Eli continued knowing how impatient they where with the youngest Harris kid.

Ali didn’t even hesitate before answering, “No Park you’re staying here. And Eli you’re not in charge this time. Ava is.”

Every kid’s eyes shot open and their mouths dropped before they all started yelling.

“You can’t be serious!”

“You’re joking!”

“I’m 19 I don’t need a babysitter!”

Finally Ali decided to speak again before the kids started to riot. “Hey look! It’s not up for discussion! Last time we left Eli in charge you guys broke two windows, had a kitchen fire, and locked Parker in the closet for 7 hours with just a bag of chips. That’s not going to happen again. We just have training and a couple meetings then we will be back.”

“In our defense, you told us not to end up in the headlines again, which we successfully did, so what was the problem?” Matt stated matter-of-factly which earned glares from his mothers.

Ava jumped up running to Ashlyn’s side knowing that she was the easier one to break. “Mama please. I’m married. I can’t stay here with these heathens!”

Ash laughed a little before calmly replying, “Av you don’t have to actually stay here. Just come and check on them a few times. Make sure no one is dead, that’s all.”

Parker decided to pipe in saying, “I think it’s a great idea!” causing all of his siblings to give him dangerous looks.

Ali decided once again she needed to step in. “Look the cab is on the way to pick up me and Mama so please promise you’ll lay low. It’s seriously two nights. Just stay at the house, hang out with each other. More importantly, no one is to come in this house unless they are a Harris, got that? You have all summer to see friends so just keep it to family please.”

Ashlyn then takes a step closer to the twins so that they know her words are for them, “You know what that means? No parties. Don’t go to one and definitely don’t throw one. You hear me? No. Parties.”

She then takes a step closer to the younger blonde and stares dead into the eyes that looked so much like hers, “I’m talking to you Micah.”

“Got it.” After a pointed look from Ash she corrected it, “Yes ma’am.”

The cab arrived, the family said their goodbyes and they finally pried Parker away from their moms so that they could leave. As soon as the cab was down the street Micah and Matt gave each other knowing looks and sent out a group text.

Party is on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still open for suggestions if you have an idea where a story should go! Or if you know any soccer details you want me to put in let me know!


	3. Harris Out of Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

Training went great. The women really felt like the team was clicking and everything was beginning to smooth out. After talking to the players and telling them to hit the showers, the wives headed to their hotel to relax. Although they still had meetings the next couple days this was kind of a mini vacation for the couple and they were going to savor it by cuddling up and moving as little as possible. In this moment, nothing could be wrong in the world.

-

The Harris backyard is PACKED with teenagers. Music is blaring, everyone is dancing, and alcohol is everywhere. Eli is manning the outdoor bar, pouring shot after shot. Micah is sitting on a guy’s lap making out and Matt is dancing with a girl on the diving board of the family pool. Inside the house, Parker is staring into the backyard looking terrified. He runs to find a phone to call his moms or Ava when he notices they are all missing. Even the computers and iPads are gone. He doesn’t know what else to do but run into his room to hide.

-

Ali was curled into Ashlyn who was lightly scratching her back. “Babe relax.” It will always impress Ali how well the blonde knows her. She just tries to cuddle farther into Ash hoping that it will help to slow down her mind but it doesn’t work.

“Alex they’re fine.” Ashlyn adds laughing.

“Right, because our kids are known for making good decisions. Did you forget about that time the twins got suspended for selling test answers? Or how about the time that Eli ran his truck into a ditch racing his friends at midnight? Or when they were in the newspaper for stealing every road signs in our neighborhood? Or that time they were in the newspaper for…”

Ash quickly cut her wife off before she started having a panic attack, “Babe, babe, babe, breathe. This is the complete opposite of what I meant.”

Ali rolled over to look at Ash asking, “How does it feel to never worry? Is it wonderful?” Ashlyn couldn’t really tell if her wife was being serious or not so she went ahead and answered.

“Hey I worry too. Al, we have 6 beautiful children who are hilarious and crazy smart. They just also tend to make really stupid decisions. So yes I worry, I just try to think of the fact that they are all still alive and we have handled every problem they have thrown at us. We are going to be fine.”

Ali laid there thinking about Ashlyn’s words trying to relax. Finally she caved and just asked, “Can we at least call Ava and ask her how they are?” Ashlyn groaned and reached to hand her wife the phone.

-

Kate was sitting on the couch flipping through channels and listening to her wife talk to her mothers on the phone.

“Yes Mom.”

“I just left the house, they’re fine.”

Kate couldn’t help but laugh at what Ava just said.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Love you too.”

Ava let out an exaggerated sigh and plopped down on the couch. Kate didn’t even look over while saying, “Liar.” With a smirk.

“You’re kidding right? You get how ridiculous it is that they expect me to drive all the way to _their_ house to check on _their_ kids. I’m not going to deal with those heathens. ”

“You know that you’re one of _their_ kids right? Which makes you one of those heathens.”

Ava just shot Kate a look before deciding to go for a different approach. She smiled as she snuggled up to Kate, laying her head on her wife’s lap.

 

“Buuuttttt, if we just haaavvvveee to go check on them I guess we caaaannn…”

 

Kate quickly cut her off, “Oh no, no, no. I didn’t say anything about ‘we’. ‘We’ are not going anywhere.”

 

Ava faked shock, “You mean to tell me that you would send me into the lions’ den alone? What happened to ‘for better or worse’ or ‘to death do us part’ Katherine Paige?”

 

“Hey I’m not the one who is scared of your siblings.”

 

“Yeah because you didn’t grow up them! They’re monsters Kate!”

 

Kate laughed and tried her best to muster up some pity, “Oh baby if it’s going to bring up childhood nightmares then I guess you don’t need to go over there.”

 

Ava’s face broke into a smirk as she leaned up to her wife, “Good, because I have better plans.” As she began kissing Kate’s neck.

 

-

 

The party was showing no signs of slowing down even though it was getting close to 3 am. Eli was helping his friends doing a keg stand while Matt and Micah where laying on the patio table letting people take body shots of them. Parker has now put on all the sports gear he could find. He has on his baseball helmet, football shoulder pads, shin guards, and his hockey stick. He has decided that his last option is to guard the house to make sure no one comes in. He has been sitting in the kitchen chair dozing for the past hour trying his best to stay up. Surely the party would end soon.

 

-

 

Ashlyn woke up to a noise in the background. When she opened her eyes she saw that it was still dark outside so she was confused as to why their alarm was going off. Finally the daze started wearing off and she realized it was just Ali’s phone. She was about to wake her wife up when she saw how peaceful she looked curled into her side. Ash just sighed and reached over to grab her phone, sliding it open to look at the text. After reading it she simply stood, not worrying about it disturbing Ali, and grabbed her laptop. The abrupt movement woke Ali up who was extremely confused as to why she was all of the sudden alone on the bed. She blinked a few times before noticing that her wife was sitting at the desk on the computer which didn’t help her confusion at all.

 

“Ashlyn what in the hell are you doing?”

 

Ashlyn didn’t even look up from the screen before replying, “Looking up flights. Your brother texted you. Phone’s on the bed.”

 

Ali felt around finding her phone and looking for the text that was making her wife decided to look for plane tickets so early in the morning. She squinted at the bright screen waiting for her vision to clear so she could read the message:

 

KYLE: You know I love my niece and nephews. A lot. But I know that you would kill me if I didn’t tell you. Just look up the hashtag #HarrisOutOfHand on twitter. It shouldn’t be hard to find because it’s trending.

 

Then there was a second text from him:

 

KYLE: Please don’t kill them Alex. You wouldn’t do well in jail.

 

Ali reluctantly opened her twitter app and took a deep breath as she clicked on the hash tag. She slowly scrolled through the picture that has been posted with her kids in what was clearly their backyard. It took her a total of 2 minutes before she decided that she has seen enough and walks up behind Ashlyn.

 

“So what time are we leaving?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still open to ant suggestions for story lines :)


	4. Back Early

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know this update took a little bit longer but college keeps me pretty busy. And don't worry, I have already started chapter five so it should be up shortly. Luckily I never sleep.

The yard was destroyed. Like DESTROYED. Trash was everywhere and all the patio furniture was broken. Everything looked so much worse in the morning light, which only Parker knew because the others were still asleep in the living room. Eli was laying half on the couch, dead to the world. Matt was laying under the coffee table snoring. Micah was laying in the middle of the floor, without a shirt on, and hugging a pillow. Parker was standing in the door way taking in all the damage before screaming,

“MOM IS GOING TO KILL US!!!”

The sudden loud noises scared the crap out of the older siblings. All at once, Eli fell off the couch, Matt shot up hitting his head on the table, and Micah set up fast looking for the source of the noise. When she saw that it was just her little brother she immediately got irritated.

“Parker! Why in the HELL are you yelling?!”

“DON’T CUSS AT ME!!”

“STOP SCREAMING!”

“YOU”RE SCREAMING!”

“SHUT UP AND TALK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!”

At this point the three older kids are squinting at the pain in their head’s caused by the noise, just wanting to go back to sleep. Parker took a deep breathe then started talking again.

“They house is trashed.”

Matt look around him. “No it’s not.”

“I MEANT THE YARD! THE YARD IS SUPER MESSED UP! EVERYTHING IS BROKEN! THERE IS TRASH EVERYWHERE! SOMEONE THREW UP IN THE HOT TUB! MAMA’S HOT TUB!”

“STOP YELLING!!!”

Matt just made a face thinking back to the night before, “That puke might have been me. I just remember thinking I need to get to a toilet. Then thinking ‘that’s a big toilet. Why are people in it?’”

“WHY ARE YOU GUYS JUST SITTING THERE?!”

Micah was about go off about the noise coming out of Parker’s mouth when Eli started talking,

“Park breathe. Moms won’t be home till tomorrow. We have plenty of time to clean before they get home. They’ll never know. Just go upstairs and watch a movie or something.”

Parker was not pleased with that answer but he noticed that the older three where already laying down, basically back to sleep, so he gave up and went to his room.

-

Ava was driving as fast as she could. The car was silent as she stared at the road, her mind going 30 mph. Finally Kate spoke,

“Maybe…”

Ava quickly cut her off. “Nope.”

“But maybe…”

“Nope.”

They were quiet for a second more before Kate decided to try again.

“May…”

“Kate no! We are going to die. And yes, I said WE.”

“How am I involved?”

“Are you a Harris?"

Kate dropped her head knowing that her mother-in-laws were going to be pissed at everyone.

“Fine. What the plan?”

“Pray that the idiots people call my siblings are already up cleaning, we’re going to yell, help clean, and hope that will help calm my moms down when they get here tomorrow.”

“Ava, maybe they haven’t even heard about the party. Maybe everything will be fine.”

“It’s trending on Twitter Kate! They’ve seen it! We are just going to have to wait till the get here and be brave.”

Just then they pulled into the neighborhood but as they approached the house, they noticed a car in the family’s driveway. Then Ali and Ashlyn stepped out of the parked cab, grabbing their luggage. Ava panicked and quickly drove away before her parents saw her car.

Kate couldn’t help but laugh a little, “We’re going to be brave huh?”

“We…we’ll be brave later.” And she started driving back to their own house.

-

Ali and Ashlyn just stood in their driveway staring at their house that they left in perfect condition. That cab driver didn’t even charge them when he saw the damage. After a moment of taking in the destruction, they decided to make their way to the backyard knowing that’s where the party was. As soon as they opened the gate, it took everything in them to not call a cab and get back on a plane. To anywhere.

The backyard made the front look like it was simply decorated.

“I swear, Ashlyn if the house looks anything like this…”

“Yep.”

The wives walked into the house and looked at their sleeping children, who were in basically the same positions as they were earlier that day. Ali was ready to attack.

“Oh look. They won’t even be able to put up a fight.”

“Oh no. I want them awake. They are going to aware of their impending death.”

Ashlyn began to walk around, looking at her kids when she froze in her tracks. Ali joined her wife to see what she was looking at. She followed Ashlyn’s gaze to a small sun tattoo on Micah’s hip.

“Alex…”

“I…she…I don’t know what to tell you. She’s your daughter.”

The older blonde just took a deep breathe before yelling, “WAKE UP!”

Once again the three teenagers jumped at the noise but they just kept their eyes closed. Micah pulled the pillow she was still cuddling with off her face saying, “Go. Away.”

Ali decided to answer before her wife blew up.

“I think we’ll stay.”

The three finally started to realize what was happening and they shot up fast looking at their mothers. It quickly showed on their faces that the quick movements and noises didn’t help their hangover. Eli leaned over puking on the floor which caused the twins to gag.

Ali stepped in fast, “I swear if someone else pukes on my floor…”

With that the twins took deep breaths, trying to gain control. Parker was peaking from the top of the stairs, terrified. Once Ash saw that the twins had regained control spoke through gritted teeth.

“Kitchen. Now.”

The kids got slowly got up walking to the kitchen, almost too scared to walk past their mothers. Parker prayed that the mothers didn’t know that he was there, but not such luck.

“You too Parker.”

“Alex, he didn’t have anything to do with this.”

“He was here too Ash.”

Ashlyn always seemed to baby Parker the most. He dropped his head, walking down the stairs trying not to cry.

Once all the kids had taken a seat the mothers just stared at the kids in front of them, waiting to watch them squirm. Ash finally began.

“On the flight over here, you know the one we had to book early since our original flight wasn’t until tomorrow? Yeah on that flight your mother and I had a little talk. We were trying to decide what we did wrong.”

Those words made the kids head drop. The wives noticed that their kids were beginning to feel guilty but Ali continued.

“I mean, clearly it had to be something we did. Why else would our beautiful, intelligent, has wanted for nothing, children decide to go completely against what we said. How could that make any sense? Really? A party?”

When they were getting in trouble, all of their parent’s questions where meant to be rhetorical. The kids knew not to answer. Well all the kids up Parker.

“It was out of control Mom! There where kids everywhere and I told them not to…”

Ali cut him off. “Parker don’t talk.”

“I’m trying to tell you what happened last…”

“Parker. Enough. Stop talking”

The older three where shocked. They couldn’t remember their mothers ever raising their voices at the youngest Harris. They were even more shocked when he yelled back.

“Stop telling me to stop talking!”

The family was mind blown. Had this kid lost his mind? It caught Ali off guard but only for a moment.

“Excuse me?! You WILL NOT talk to me like that. Do you understand?!”

Parker quickly looked at Ashlyn to save him but she looked just as pissed as his other mom. He broke down and started crying.

“I’m sorry.”

“Grounded. Two weeks. Go get all your games and put them on our bed.”

Parker began crying even harder. This was the first time he has ever gotten in real trouble and he didn’t know how to take it.

“But I said sorry! Mama I said sorry.”

Once again Ashlyn didn’t defend him. “You heard your mother. Go.”

Parker slowly got up and made his way up the stairs, blubbering the whole way. Once he was gone the mothers turned their attention back to the three hungover idiots in front of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, once all the party drama is over I have a few story lines ideas but after that I might need some help coming up with stuff. That's where y'all come in :)


	5. In SO Much Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it seems like Ali and Ashlyn are only strict parents but I promise I'm going to show their fun side too. But seriously what parents wouldn't be pissed though? Hope you enjoy!

“Can we have some medicine?”

Eli regretted it as soon as it came out of his mouth. Ali shot him a look while Ashlyn just laughed. Not like a cheerful, good time laugh. More of a ‘you have to be joking or stupid’ laugh. It was scary. The kids took that as a no and just waited to get yelled at by their mothers.

“Eli, why do you have a black eye?”

The twins looked at their brother. How did they not notice that? Eli sat there thinking. He was trying to regain his memory but also trying to decide if it was safe to talk. Finally he spoke up, “I think I got into a fight with Conner. I remember yelling at him for trying to kiss Micah.”

There was Ashlyn’s scary laugh again. “Oh you think you got into a fight? So you don’t remember? Oh okay. Micah, where did that hickey come from?”

Micah’s hand immediately went to her neck. “Well apparently not Conner.”

“I…I honestly don’t even know where to begin. Got anything Ash?”

“How about we start on twitter?”

The kids’ eyes got wide, unaware that their party was trending. Ali noticed their shocked expressions.

“Oh you didn’t know? You guys are Twitter famous! There are pictures all over the internet.”

Ashlyn decided to take over. “That sounds like a great way to start. Hmm. Should we do oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest, Al?”

Eli sighed and sure enough Ash heard it.

“Eli it is.”

Ali pulled out her iPad and found the pictures that they saved off Twitter on the flight over. She found the ones with Eli and turned the device around to show them like it was a presentation. This was clearly planned. Ali was ready to begin.

“Here, my boy, we have you drinking vodka straight out of the bottle. Here you are doing a keg stand. Here you are laying in a bush. Here you trying to surf with our, now broken, diving board. There are so many more but for the sake of time we’ll move on.”

Ali passed the iPad to her wife knowing that she would want to handle to twins. There was no point in fighting her over it.

“Oh my special babies.”

Normally kids would be offended by one of their parents calling their siblings ‘special’ but that was not the case for the Harris family. Eli counted himself lucky and the twins silently cursed themselves. Before she started, Matt leaned over to Micah whispering, “Do you think they know I puked in the hot tub.”

“EXCUSE ME?!”

Micah just whispered back, “Apparently not.”

Matt’s head dropped. That was not his smartest move. Ashlyn took a deep breath and continued.

“You know what, let’s just start shall we? Here both of you are laying on the patio table, made by your grandfather may I add, letting people take body shots off of you. Here we have Matt on top of your little brother’s playset. Here you are again throwing your mother’s bird feeder. Hey, let’s try this. Do you know what is happening in this picture?”

Matt just squinted at the picture. Nothing was clicking. After a moment, Ali decided to help him out.

“You’re in the pool. Drinking. With a shirtless girl.”

“Speaking of shirtless girls. Micah. Nice tattoo.”

Surprisingly Micah’s neck didn’t break by how fast her head shot up.

“Awe Ali, she thought it was still a secret. Maybe if you would keep your clothes on, you could have kept it hidden a little longer. Which I blame myself for that. Not because I have tattoos but because I should know by now that ‘no’ means ‘yes’ to you. That has to be the case because last thing I remember is your mother and I telling you no. And honestly, there is no point on bring up all the pictures you’re in because it’s just you making out with random guys.”

“Seriously Mic. We raised you to be classier than that. We raised you all better than you acted last night. You guys set a new high. You were actually on the news this morning. Not just the local news, Good Morning America. You get how much of a negative image this party has brought on the family? Not only that how dangerous it was! Someone could have died, loves!”

The moms stopped for a moment and let Ali’s words set in. The kids have never felt so guilty. They honestly just wanted to have a good time. The thought of someone getting hurt never crossed their minds. Finally Ashlyn decided it was time to lay out their punishment.

“First, you are obviously cleaning the yard. Every bit of it. And you will pay for everything broken. Secondly, you no longer own vehicles. They are ours. That includes the twins’ dirt bikes. Also, since your party went public, you will apologize publically. You will write a letter apologizing to our neighbors, the kids at the party, their parents, and the public for the way you guys acted.”

“We’ve already talked to Good Morning America and E! and they have agreed to read the letter on the show.”

“Lastly, summer is cancelled.”

The teenagers quietly groaned but Ashlyn continued.

“And I don’t just mean we’re just taking your phones and you can’t hang out with friends. I mean you aren’t doing anything. That includes sports.”

That definitely got their attention. Micah panicked and couldn’t help but speak.

“But I have those soccer camps this summer!”

Ali knew it was coming. The last thing they needed right now was for World War III to start in their house. She need to try and put this growing fire out fast. “And the boys have baseball. Everyone is giving something up.”

“It’s not the same and you know it! I have scouts for the U17 team coming to look at me! They aren’t going to just assume I’m good enough without watching! I can’t get called to a camp if I’m not there!”

Ashlyn was over the younger blondes tone.

“Micah Grace, stop talking.”

Once the middle name came out, Micah knew the argument was over. She just needed to get away from her mom.

“Can we go now?”

Ashlyn just closed her eyes, trying to remain in control. “Fine. Leave your phones and keys in our room. You’ll start cleaning tomorrow.”

With that the kids stood up, walking to their rooms. Ali just laid her head on her wife’s shoulder.

“They’re making my hair grey.”

Ash wrapped her arms around Ali’s waist. Then something clicked for the brunette. “Wait, where was Ava?”

-

Ava was helping Kate finish dinner when her phone started ringing causing the pair to freeze.

“Just let it go to voice mail.”

“Right Ava. Because ignoring them is going to help things.”

“Do you want to talk to them? Because if so, by all means answer it.”

It only took Kate half a second to decide.

“Voice mail it fine.”

Finally the phone stopped ringing and the couple begin to eat quietly. The peace was short lived because Kate’s phone soon started to ring.

“Why are they calling me?!” She panicked.

“You’ve got to answer it!”

“Are you kidding me right now?!”

“We both can’t ignore them Kate! Take one for the team!”

Kate shot her wife a look to kill as she answered the phone.

                “Hey Ali.”

                “Yes she is.”

                “Why, I don’t know why she ignored your call. You can ask her yourself, she sitting right here.”

Ava stared her down. Her wife just threw her under the bus! Kate just smirked as she handed her phone. Ava got her best princess voice ready as she got ready to talk.

                “Hey mom.”

                “You did? Hm. I didn’t hear it.”

                “Wait, what? They threw a party! Are you serious?!”

                “I had no idea!”

                “It must have started after I left.”

Kate just shook her head at the lies coming out of her wife’s mouth.

                “That’s crazy. Well you know to call us if you need help with anything. “

                “Of course. Love you too. Bye.”

Ava let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding and the sat the phone down.

“Dodged a bullet there.”

Just then her own phone dinged with a text message from Ashlyn.

MAMA: You drove away pretty fast earlier. Remember that little kids live in our neighborhood.

_Crap._


	6. Family Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter focuses on Micah a little more. I'll probably take turns doing this with the kids throughout chapters. Hope you enjoy!

It was a week after the party and things were still kind of tense with the family. Yeah the yard was as close to normal as it was going to be and yeah the kids have coughed up the money for all the broken furniture and diving board but with everyone constantly stuck together, emotions were on edge. Parker simply thought that the world was ending. And to think, he still had another week of being grounded. Eli and Matt had gotten into so many fights that the mothers have lost count. And Micah had barely said two words since being grounded. No worries though, the looks she gave said enough. Ashlyn decided to let Ava slide and didn’t mention to her wife about seeing her drive away from the scene last week so at least they had one kid acting normal.

-

Ashlyn was finishing dinner when Ali walked into the kitchen with a huge smile. Ashlyn looked at her cheesing wife a little confused. “May I help you?”

“I have an idea.”

_Well this could be really good or really bad._

“Let’s do a family night once a week.”

 _Really bad._ Ashlyn just started laughing. Ali clearly didn’t understand why her wife thought her brilliant idea was so funny.

“What?! The kids can’t leave the house and clearly they are getting restless so this could be good bonding for us! Maybe they will remember we are actually decent people and love us again!”

“Al, I think they love us. They’re just dramatic teenagers. And our ‘family nights’ have never worked out well. Forcing them to play games together will only makes things worse.”

“How?! It will be so much fun! Look, just one night. If it works out, which it will, then we will make it a weekly thing.”

“And if we have to separate our brawling children in the middle of the living room?”

“Then you will be right and I will be wrong, but seriously Ash, when has that ever happened.” Ali added with a wink. Ashlyn took that as a challenge.

“Loser owes the other a back rub.”

“Deal.”

-

‘Family Night’ started 10 minutes ago and so far Ashlyn had to separate Eli and Matt fighting over monopoly money, Ali has stopped Parker from crying twice, and Micah just sat there looking like she hated her life.

Ali was once again holding onto a crying Parker when she heard the front door open. Ava and Kate entered the house and saw the scene before them. Poor Kate didn’t understand.

“Oh! I love monopoly!”

“Babe, no.” Ava had Kate’s hand and was trying to pull her back out the door, but Kate had her feet planted.

“What?! We just got here.”

“And we need to go.”

Ashlyn laughed, that scary laugh, and addressed her oldest daughter. “Oh no you don’t. There is no need to … drive away quickly.”

Ever since she saw Ava drive away from their house after the party, she has been using it to blackmail her daughter. No, it wasn’t the best parenting choice she has made but she found it really funny. Plus, Ava was an adult so it doesn’t really count right?

Ava wanted to roll her eyes but Ali was giving them both a look so she simply sat down. The last thing she needed was for Ali to find out about that. But it still wasn’t going to stop her from speaking her mind.

“When has family night ever gone well? You all look miserable so clearly this time isn’t going any better than the other tries.”

“A least we didn’t have to listen to your voice, princess.”

Everyone was so shocked that Micah had just talked that the only one upset by her words was Ava. She just turned and addressed her mothers.

“Was I not a good enough daughter? You had to have another one?”

Micah began talking without even thinking, “Maybe they wanted one that was actually…” Thankfully she caught herself before she finished that sentence but everyone knew that she was going to bring up Ava being adopted.

“Micah…” Ashlyn started but before she could finish her youngest daughter stood and left the room. With that the mood was beyond killed and Ali had called it quits for the family night.

-

Ashlyn was sitting on the computer checking emails when she felt hands starting to rub her shoulders. She sighed and leaned back into her wife’s touch.

“I can’t really rub your back if you’re leaned back in the chair. Want to move to the bed?”

Ashlyn leaned back and lifted an eyebrow at the brunette.

“A bet is a bet and you won. Family night completely blew up. I seriously think each one ends up worse than the last.”

Ashlyn stood and connected their lips for a quick kiss. “They’ll work one day.”

Ali knew she didn’t believe what she was saying but she appreciated Ash trying.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah just lay on the bed.”

Ashlyn smirked and started to do what she was told when something out their window caught her attention. Ali immediately started to panic thinking someone was breaking in, but Ashlyn seemed calm so she joined her wife at the window. All the backyard lights were on and Micah was dribbling a soccer ball between cones.

“It’s crazy how much you two are alike.”

Ali’s words pulled the blonde out of her thoughts. “What?”

“That’s why you guys fight all time. You’re the same person.”

“Not true. She’s plays right back. That’s all you.”

She looked back to Ali and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking to the closet, grabbing her cleats.

-

Micah was juggling the ball, listening to the blaring music in her headphones just trying to drown out the world. She had been fighting back tears since she came to the yard. She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn’t even notice that her mom had joined her in the yard till she lost control of the ball and Ashlyn caught it. Micah saw her mom’s mouth moving so pulled out her headphones assuming she was getting yelled at.

“Look, I didn’t mean what I said about Ava, okay? I already called her to apologize. Just go ahead and ground me even longer.”

Ashlyn noticed the tears in the younger blonde’s eyes so she changed to a softer tone before repeating what she actually said.

“All I said was that its 11:30. Kind of late for soccer practice isn’t it?”

“What? I can’t even run drills anymore? Should I just stop playing soccer all together?”

_There’s the attitude._

“Mic that’s not what I meant.” Ashlyn carefully defended herself. She needed to find out what was bothering her daughter and yelling wasn’t going to help.

Micah wouldn’t make eye contact with Ash. “This is the only form of practice I get now so.”

“I get that. I was just wondering why you waited this late to practice.”

“Because it’s impossible to have alone time in this freaking family and I have to practice!” The tears where starting to spill over. All she wanted was for her mom to give her the ball back and leave her alone. She knew it was just wishful thinking. Ashlyn started walking towards her daughter and was hurt when Micah took a step back, still crying.

“Are you seriously trying to comfort me right now?! Do you not get it?! I’m so freaking pissed at you!”

Ashlyn wasn’t really surprised by what she said but at the fact that she actually said it.

“Will you tell me why?”

This blew Micah’s mind. She expected her mom to yell. At the same time, she began increasingly more irritated at Ashlyn.

“Seriously?! You took me off my team! I had scouts interested in me! Do you realize how bad me disappearing looks to them?! Of all people you and mom should understand! I get that I screwed up with the party but I finally had a chance to prove myself and you took it away!”

“What do you mean ‘you finally had a chance to prove yourself’? Prove yourself to who, kid?”

 _Seriously? Another question?_ “Everyone! It’s not like I get a free pass because my parents have a World Cup! Either everyone expects me to be the best and that I shouldn’t mess up at all. Or they think people just hand me everything simply because of my moms! No one expects me to get close to the level of you two! Making the U17 team would shut all of them up because I earned it myself!!”

Micah completely gave in to the tears, sitting on the ground. Ashlyn stood there a moment taking in her words. She had to admit that she felt bad for her daughter but she couldn’t go back on the punishment her and Ali had set.

She was caught off guard when Micah choked out, “you can hug me now” through her tears.

Ashlyn was a little relieved. _Good. She doesn’t completely hate me._

She sat down next to Micah and pulled her into a tight hug. Ash understood where the girl was coming from. The wives wanted to make sure that their kids stayed active so at a young age they put them in every sport possible then let them choose their favorites. Of all the kids, Micah was the only one to choose soccer. She quickly became addicted.

The tears finally stopped but she didn’t make any efforts to move from her mom’s hug. Ashlyn kept her hold on Micah and decided it was time for damage control.

“You’re one of the best soccer players I’ve ever seen.”

Ash saw the corners of her daughters mouth pull into a smile. Another wave of relief. _Good. She still knows how to do that._

“I appreciate it, but you kind of have to say that. You’re my mom.”

“True. But I really do mean it. You play with a passion and skill level that is insane for your age. That’s something that Mom and I couldn’t just hand you. You work hard to be the best and only an idiot would think otherwise.”

“Mama, will you be honest with me?”

“Of course kid.”

“How bad is it going to look missing my appointments with the scouts this summer?”

Ashlyn thought carefully about her words. “Honestly, it won’t look great.”

She watched as Micah’s smile immediately dropped and her eyes began to fill again so she quickly finished her thought.

“But I know it won’t be your last shot. They were interested in you for a reason. They saw your talent and they aren’t going to just forget that! If you want I can make a couple calls and see if we can get you a later watch date.”

“No. Last thing I need is people finding out you pulled strings to help me. I’ll…I’ll figure it out.”

Ash couldn’t help up smile at her daughter. “You know, your mom says that we fight all the time because we are the same person.”

Micah pulled back from her mother looking her over. “Yeah, I don’t see it.”

The older blonde lightly shoved her daughter then stood up offering her a hand. “Want me to run some drills with you?”

“Mom won’t get mad about how late it is?”

Ashlyn honestly hadn’t thought about it. “Um. It’ll be fine. Speaking of mom, she gave me a little speech to tell you.”

Ash cleared her throat, getting ready to deliver the message. “The national team cares about reputations so bad choices, like dangerous parties, won’t help your case. So ultimately it’s up to you. Basically she’s saying you will never play for her if you keep getting in trouble. You know she likes the guilt trip.”

Micah nodded in understanding as Ashlyn grabbed the soccer ball.

“Good. Now let’s work on headers.”

-

2:49 am Ashlyn returned to her room to find Ali asleep. She hoped in a quick shower then climbed in to the bed with her wife. She placed a soft kiss on the brunette’s head before whispering, “You aren’t getting out of that back rub by the way.” And watched Ali give a small smile.


	7. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this has taken a little longer and I'm sorry! I've been really busy with school and I got hurt pretty bad. With that being said I'm on some pretty high pain killers so I'm kind of out of it. Haha.

By the grace of God, summer was almost over. The kids were driving each other up the wall, but more importantly, their parents. Not one week went by smoothly. Everyone’s patience levels were at 0 and things kept ‘accidently’ breaking. This week on ‘what could go wrong?’ the stomach bug had hit the Harris house. Parker went to a friend’s birthday party, since he was now ungrounded, and caught the bug from someone at the party. The moms actually thought letting one of the kids out of the house would be a great thing, but boy where they wrong.

Two days after the party Parker threw up all over the table at lunch. Ali thought she did a good job at getting the germs isolated to his room but no such luck. It spread fast. It hit Eli next, who then gave it to Matt, who of course gave it to Micah. Something the mothers learned long ago is that if one of the twins gets sick, so is the other one. They were best friends, or as everyone else says partners in crime, and that meant they shared everything. That included germs.

Ali stayed busy taking care of her babies. No, the teenagers didn’t NEED their mom waiting on them hand and foot but when they were sick they took after Ashlyn. They needed special care and attention. You would have thought they were dying, but secretly, Ali didn’t mind. It her made her feel needed.

While Ali was busy being ‘mom the nurse’ Ashlyn was forced to be ‘mama the errand runner.’ It was crazy to think the world was still turning outside of the house. She has lost count of how many trips she’s made to the store this week. Which half of those were because she messed up the first time. Still, Ashlyn counted herself lucky. She was not one to deal with people being sick, especially the when it came to kids. Puke freaked her out and seeing the kids so weak made her feel helpless.

Ashlyn was once again coming home from the store, for what she hoped was the last time, when she was welcomed by the lovely smell of Lysol and her wife’s voice from upstairs.

“Parker I told you to stay down stairs! Do you want to get sick again?!”

Parker was just about back to 100% but his siblings weren’t even close. Before Ash even got a chance to sit down, Ali showed up bringing Parker away from the older kids.

“Good, you’re back. We’re out of Lysol.”

“I could tell.” Ashlyn replied scrunching her nose. She couldn’t even remember what the house smelt like before the disinfectant took over.

Ali’s hand went right to her hip which was something her wife knew all too well. She was about to get attitude.

“Do you want to get sick?”

“No ma’am.”

“That’s what I thought. The last thing I need is another person to take care. Can you please go back to the store? Last time today. Promise.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes and Ali gave her a kiss to help seal the deal.

“Fine. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Good. Take Parker.” Ali quickly added.

“Wait, what? He could still be contagious, Alex!”

“He hasn’t got sick today, his energy is back, and he needs to get out of this house. It’ll be fine. Stop being so scared of germs.”

Ashlyn was about to continue her protest when they heard Matt from upstairs.

“Mom! I think…” followed by the sound of gagging. Ali quickly ran up to stairs. Ashlyn looked down at her, still possibly germy, youngest who had his shoes on ready to go then back to the stairs where her wife had just disappeared.

“Saved by the bell woman.”

-

It was in fact NOT the last time Ashlyn had to back to the store. Ali was still busy being a nurse upstairs so Ashlyn made dinner for her and Parker, then an extra plate for Ali to eat later. After eating their meal for two, Ashlyn put in a movie and cuddled up with her youngest on the couch. He was definitely feeling better but he still got wore out pretty easy. The movie had barely begun when Eli come downstairs and joined the two on the couch which was not ok with Ashlyn.

“Nope.” She said, pushing him away from her.

“Mom told me to come down here.”

_Of course she did._

“Why?”

Eli just shrugged and kept watching the movie. Finally he noticed his mother was still staring at him.

“She said I needed to get up and move around some. I haven’t got sick in a while so I’m fine.”

For some reason he thought was enough to clear his case but his mama was not convinced.

“I’m refuse to get sick! Go sit on the recliner.”

“Why are you worried about me getting you sick when Micah threw up ON you the other day? You’ve already been exposed.”

“Exactly! I don’t need you adding to my possibilities! I love you son but move!”

After a grunt Eli moved to the recliner and quickly feel asleep. Ash knew he was still pretty sick. Oh, Ali was going to owe her later.

-

Ashlyn cautiously risked carrying Parker upstairs to the ‘germ ward’ to put him to bed. She just covered up Eli and left him in the recliner downstairs. Perks of having older children.

As she was leaving Parker’s room she passed Ali in the hall way and just shot her a look adding,

“Carry on, Nurse.”

Ali knew what she was mad about all the exposure to sickness. Sending Eli downstairs was risky. All Ash wanted to do was jump in the shower and get clean.

-

The kids were finally all asleep. _Finally._ Ali was tired but she knew that Ashlyn was going to give her crap about letting the boys around her so she wanted to make it up to her. Ali walked in their room and saw Ashlyn laying in the bed flipping through the channels.

_Good. She’s still awake._

“Hello Mrs. Harris.”

The blonde didn’t catch on to her wife’s little game.

“How are the kids?”

Ali wanted to stay in character but she knew that Ashlyn really was concerned about their children so she tried to do both.

“The…patients, are doing better. I’ve cleared Parker, Eli just needs sleep, but the twins are still running a fever and getting sick every few hours. I’m keeping them hydrated and a trash can is by their beds. I only have one patient left to check on before my shift ends.”

“Ok.” Ashlyn still didn’t get it. She figured Ali was just going to make sure the kids were really okay. She was always a worrier.

Ali decided to help her wife out a little as she slowly walked to the bed and climbed on to straddle the blonde. Ashlyn was by no means upset by the situation but she was still confused.

“What are you…?”

She was cut off by Ali placing to fingers on her neck, pretending to take her pulse.

“Have you been having any aches ma’am?”

 _Ooohhhh._ Ashlyn finally got it. _This is could be fun._

“You have no idea.”

Ali moved her hands up her wife’s shirt, running her fingers across Ashlyn’s abs.

“Have you had any…hot flashes?”

“I ugh. I’m having one right now.”

Ashlyn quickly flipped them over, reversing their positions.

“Oh come on Ash you always take over.”

Ashlyn just smirked kind of proud of herself. “You got it started and that’s what important.”

Ali grabbed her shirt pulling her into a passionate kiss but Ashlyn all of sudden pulled back and sprinted to the bathroom barely making it in time and started throwing up.

_Crap. Now I really do have another patient._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Always open for suggestions and feed back :)


	8. Crazy Schedule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I know it has been a really long time since I've updated and I'm sorry! If you're in college then you understand how sometimes it can take over your life. I'll try not to make a habit of taking so long in the future. Anyway, hope you like it and as always, thanks for reading!

Ali stepped back and looked at the white board in front of her. It was a giant dry-erase calendar that was used to keep up with the family’s insane schedule. School was starting back tomorrow which meant so was their busy lives of classes, sports, and clubs. It was hard being everywhere at once when you have 6 kids but the couple definitely tried their best. Even if that meant they had to divide and conquer.

The wives loved how involved their kids were but it could be over whelming, although it use to be worse. Ava was president of student council (in high school and college), president of drama club (in high school and college), captain of the Cheerleading team (in high school and college), and took dance classes from when she was 3 until she got her degree. Tyler was a mathlete and quarterback of the football team. He planned on playing in college but he blew out his knee senior year and lost all of his scholarships. That’s what started his downward spiral.

Even though Ali and Ashlyn no longer had to keep up with those two’s schedule didn’t mean their lives slowed down. They still have 4 very active kids. Eli runs track and cross country at UCLA and usually plays baseball with a club team during the summer. He is also a member of a fraternity on campus and the vice president of the community service program at his school. When it comes to the twins, they tend to do a lot of things together. They both box (to Ali’s dislike) and race motocross (also to Ali’s dislike). They even created a Gay-Straight Alliance at their school. Surprisingly, the do some things apart. Matt plays short stop for his high school baseball team as well as playing hockey. School has never really been his strong suite (turns out he is dyslexic) so as far as clubs go, he tends to stick to ones like welding and community service. Micah is the star soccer player for her school as well as the club team she plays with year around. She also runs track in the spring just to help keep herself in shape for the next season. On top of that, she is president of student council (Ava can’t decided if she is proud or pissed), president of the writing club, president of the Scholar Society, and on the debate team. Even at Parker’s age, he was really involved. He played hockey and tennis and was in the Math for the Gifted club at his school.

The mothers have always wanted to be as attentive as possible when it comes to their kid’s lives and the only way to keep up with all of them is with Ali’s giant, color-coded calendar that she was extremely proud of. It was finally complete. Everyone’s schedule listed and organized. All the school supplies have been bought and seperated and they were ready for tomorrow. The only thing left was the family’s annual ‘summer is over’ dinner.

While Ali had been stressing over the extremely detailed white board, Ashlyn had been cooking dinner for the family. Every year the family sits and has dinner all together as a way for them to relax and enjoy time together before their busy school lives took over. Ali started setting the table as Ashlyn took the last item off the stove when the door bell rang.

“Got it” They heard their youngest yell from the living room. A moment later the door mystery was solved. “It’s Kate!”

“And Ava” They heard their oldest finish.

Once Parker was done being a partial doorman Ashlyn sent him up to get the rest of his siblings and soon the whole family was around the table eating and starting random conversation. Granted, most of them had been locked in the house together all summer so finding new conversation was tricky.

Kate decided to change the subject from the riveting laundry detergent debate by saying, “So Micah, got an eye on a new boy for this year?”  

This instantly made the, commonly over protective, mothers freeze. Micah just shrugged and continued eating why the two older women began to panic.

“What? Does that mean yes? Are you talking to someone again? It better not be that Jordan guy again. Is it Jordan? Did he text you again?” Ali quizzed not waiting for her to answer. Finally Ashlyn interrupted with her own questions.

“How are his parents? Is he a good guy? Like a _good_ guy Micah Grace not someone like Nathan. You know your mother and I have to approve of him right?”

Micah is just glaring at Kate down waiting for her mothers to stop. Finally she takes a chance to get a word in.

“I’m not talking to anyone! In case you two have forgotten, I’ve been in this house all summer without a phone so clearly Jordan hasn’t texted me, let alone anyone else.”

The stress lines started to disappear from their faces. _Good._

Ava thought she would help by adding, “Don’t worry Mom, she can always talk to me about her boy problems.” Which actually just opened a whole different can of worms.

Matt thought for a minute then said, “Why would she come to you with boy problems?”

“Because I’m her big sister.” Ava answered clearly confused.

“But you’re gay.”

“So! I dated guys before. That’s why it was such a big shock when I came out.” Ali and Ashlyn couldn’t help but laugh a little and Ava didn’t understand. Ali thought it was time to let her oldest in on the secret.

“Honey, we knew.”

“Yup” Ashlyn seconded.

This completely threw Ava for a loop.

“What do you mean you knew?!”

“Yeah, I knew too.” Micah added.

“Well I didn’t know.” Matt confused, followed by Eli saying, “Yeah me either. I would have guessed Micah, not Ava.”

Now Micah was confused. “Wait, what?! Why me?!”

“Ava was always so girly. She was a cheerleader and danced and wears dresses. You live in tennis shoes and shorts, you box and race dirt bikes. Plus you used to play softball.”

“That is the most ridiculously stereotypical thing I’ve ever heard.”

Eli didn’t even get a chance to reply because Ava was back focused on her parents. “I can’t believe I was terrified to come out to you guys and you knew the whole time!”

Once again, Matt was confused. “Wait, you were scared to come out, as a lesbian, to lesbians?”

“I thought it was going to be a big shock!”

Ali was beginning to feel a little bad for her daughter but Ashlyn still found it a little funny.

“Baby girl, it was just one of those ‘mother always knows’ moments.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew when I came out?!” Ashlyn was finally in control enough to answer.

“Kid look, we understand that it took a lot for you to admit to us who you really are. You looked scared and we could tell it took a lot of courage for you to come to us. The last thing we were going to do was belittle that moment by making it seem pointless.”

Ava was still aggravated but she was beginning to understand where they were coming from. Then something hit her.

“Micah, how in the h…” Ali shot her a look so she quickly fixed her sentence, “…world did you know?!”

“Oh. I walked in on you making out with Kate in the kitchen that time. Remember?”

Ava’s eyes got big while it was Kate’s turn to look confused.

“We never made out in the kitchen…”

Micah gave her sister a look of sorry and quickly tried to change the conversation.

-

The sound of the alarm came way too early. The morning of the first day of school was always a struggle. The kids didn’t want to get up and honestly, neither did the wives. Ali reached for the alarm, turning off the annoying noise while Ashlyn just groaned and curled into the brunette.

“Come on baby, we have to get up and get the kids moving.”

Ash just groaned again and pulled Ali tighter. Ali laughed at her childlike antics.

“Seriously. Ash.”

The blonde didn’t even answer, already starting to fall back asleep.

“Ashlyn Michelle.” She tried with a stern voice.

“Fine women. I’m up.” Ashlyn released Ali and stood up before stretching and walking to the door. “Let me guess, twin duty?”

“Yep.”

“I’m pumped!” Ash said with all the energy and fake excitement she could muster.

-

Ali went right into her super mom school mode. Lunch money was out, breakfast was being cooked and book bags and sports bags were in their proper cubby holes by the door. She was listening to the common sound of Ashlyn yelling at the twins to get moving when Parker came down to the table half asleep followed by Eli. Although Eli still had a couple of weeks before his classes started he was always an early riser. Especially since he was a light sleeper and Ashlyn’s morning duties was not a quiet task.

“When will food be done?” Parker asked, yawning.

“Any second now but you need to go change out of your pajamas first.”

“Eli is in his pajamas!”

“Eli doesn’t have school today. Go, please.”

After a loud groan that reminded Ali of her wife, Parker went back up the stairs. Speaking of her wife, Ashlyn was back down stairs, walking to the table and plopping down in her seat. Ali, who is also a super wife, brought her a cup of coffee knowing how stressful of a job she had on school days.

-

Two hours later, food had been eaten, car keys returned, bags double checked, and the three youngest Harris kids where out the door headed to school. The wives watched as a family friend picked up Parker to carpool and the twins pulled out of the driveway. Ashlyn already knew what was about to happen so she pulled Ali into her and waited. As soon as the kid’s vehicles were out of sight, Ali let the tears fall. Ashlyn couldn’t help but laugh.

“Every year.”

“Shut up Harris!”

“I know, I know. Those are your babies.”


	9. Back to School

The twins arrived to their lockers next to each other and started working the locks open. Neither one of them really cared for the first day of school, especially Matt. The first day just meant secret meetings with his teachers explaining that he would need extra time with work. Ever since he was diagnosed with dyslexia he has been a little embarrassed at school. It was nice to have an answer to why he struggled so hard with school work but it didn’t make anything easier. He couldn’t compete with his siblings who were always the top of their class. The family tried to help the best they could but the extra attention made him feel even worse. The only perks of school was friends and sports.

“Hey Mic, I’m going to the gym after school to lift weights with Drew to get ready for season, are you coming?”

“I have soccer practice.”

“Wait. What time are you getting done?”

“Like 5, why?”

“After the gym I have to meet with my tutor to go over scheduling at 5.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?! I would have drove my own car! How am I supposed to get home?”

“Just skip practice. It’s the first one.”

Micah’s eyes went wide. “You’re joking or crazy.” This was the first real practice Micah was allowed to go to since being grounded and there was no way she was going to miss it.

Matt was about to tell his sister to chill when he noticed that she was giving someone behind him a death stare. He didn’t even have to look back to know exactly was on the receiving end.

“Mic, don’t be stupid.”

She just rolled her eyes and was turning back to her locker when she felt someone’s shoulder slam into her own followed by a hateful tone, “Harris.”

Matt couldn’t help but laugh which his sister didn’t appreciate.

“That was like something out of a cheesy 80s movie.”

“She came up to me!”

“You and Reagan have been fighting since 4th grade. It’s ridiculous.”

“She stole my markers!”

“And you punched her in the face! You’re even.”

“That was just the beginning and you know it!” The two girls have never gotten along. Many phone calls home were based on them fighting.

“Yes, I know. Reagan is an awful person. Let’s move on.”

Micah took a deep breath and closed her locker.

“Fine. Did you finish reading the first two chapters for History?”

Matt’s was completely taken back and his twin noticed.

“Matt, did you seriously not read it? It’s the first day and you’re already behind.”

“You didn’t tell me we had reading! Just tell me what it was over and I’ll wing it.”

“That’s not my job! It was on the syllabus. I have enough work to do myself to do your work too this year. Sorry Matt, I’m just too busy.” And with that she started walking off to her first class. Matt wanted the last word and called after her.

“Yeah too busy finding guys to hook up with!”

Micah froze for a second but decided to just ignore him and go to class. She knew that school stressed him out and she knew that he didn’t mean it.

-

After the younger kids left for school and Ali got control of her tears, the moms decided to join Eli for his morning run. They completely forgot how hard it is to keep up with their track star but the two toughed it out to the end.

It was like the run didn’t even affect Eli! He immediately went to the garage to lift weights leaving his moms to catch their breath on the porch. Ali was the first one able to form words.

“Why. Does. He. Run. So fast?”

Ashlyn took a second before being able to answer. “You would think. It was a race.”

“Eh, I just want to shower.” Ali never appreciated being gross and sweaty. Ashlyn did. She cocked an eyebrow at her wife and her eye’s darkened.

“Sounds like a plan.” Ali caught on to what her wife was insinuating.

_Oh yeah. That’s why I like school time._

She thought as she pulled her wife into the house. Ashlyn pushed her wife against the wall and quickly closed the space between them. Her hands moved to Ali’s waist and started playing with the hem of her shirt.

Ali pulled back a millimeter and breathed out, “Shower.”

Ash closed the gap between their lips again and turned them around, leading her wife to their master bedroom. Right when the two reached their room they heard a voice from the kitchen that immediately turned on Ali’s super mom mode. She quickly ran out of the room leaving Ashlyn alone and frustrated. What Ali found was her son standing over the sink covered in blood. Before she had a chance to feel any real panic Eli informed her, “It’s a nose bleed and it won’t stop!”

-

“Ava, you can’t just walk away right now!”

“I’m already late for work, Kate.”

“Every time I try to talk to you about this you shut down. Will you please just talk to me?!”

“We have talked about this. Seriously I have to go.”

Ava was walking around trying to find her keys hoping that Kate would notice that she didn’t have time for this. Kate wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“Don’t even try that Ava Faith! You said ‘not right now’ and fell asleep. That is NOT a conversation!”

Ava continued searching for her keys and she tried to reason with her yelling wife.

“What’s wrong with ‘not right now’? That sounds like a really good answer.”

“How in the hell is that a good answer?! What does that even mean?!”

“It means not right now Kate!”

Ava finally found her keys and threw her purse over her shoulder and headed to the door. She hated leaving her wife like this but she really did have leave and she was also so unbelievably over this conversation. She would just have to deal with the wrath of Kate later. She was almost out the door when Kate yelled, “Why don’t you want to have kids with me?”

Ava stopped in her tracks for moment. She had to go and this answer wasn’t easy.

“I love you, Kate. See you later.” And she left.

-

Eli’s nose finally stopped bleeding and everything was cleaned up. He decided to run to a couple stores to get ready for school to start back the next week leaving his mothers alone once again. Ali was in the laundry room treating the blood on Eli’s shirt so that it doesn’t stain. The boy was known for random nose bleeds so she had the system down. She finally done all of her magic and was throwing Eli’s shirt in the washing machine when she felt arms wrap around her waist and lips on her ear.

“So are we going to finish what we started earlier?”

“Ew. I forgot we haven’t showered yet.”

Ashlyn turned her wife around in her arms so they were face to face. She gave Ali a loving and playful look.

“Race you there.” And she took off down the hall and Ali ran after her. They just got into their room when the doorbell rang.

“No Alex. Ignore it.” Ashlyn was getting desperate and was determined that she wasn’t going to get left frustrated again. She pulled her wife into her and started to kiss her neck. She made her way back to Ali’s lips when the doorbell rung again. Ashlyn took a deep breath, stepped back and followed her wife to the door.

When Ali reached for the doorknob Ashlyn stopped her adding, “Are you sure?”

Ali laughed at her wife and opened the door.

“Your daughter is impossible!”

“Hi Kate.”

The two women stepped to the side and let their daughter-in-law in the house.

-

Saying it was a long day is an understatement. Matt was warned that junior year was going to be hard but he didn’t expect to it become hard so fast. It was only the first day and he was already behind. Thankfully the first day was over and all he had to was go to the gym with his friend and meet with a tutor, which he was used to.

He made his way to his locker and met Micah who was putting away her books and grabbing her soccer bag. He felt bad about the comment he made to her earlier and knew that he had to apologize. Before he could even say anything, she turned and handed held out a piece of paper.

“Here. It’s everything that is due this week. I’m not doing it for you but ask me if you need help, idiot.”

The twins never argued for long. Matt was about to thank his favorite sister when Reagan walked by with a smile. “Later Harris.”

Micah was confused. Why was her enemy all smiley and perking when saying her name instead of her usual venom infested tone?

“What is her problem?”

Matt tried to play coy. “What do you mean?”

“I had three classes with her today and all she did was mean mug me the entire time. Now after one class apart she is all…nice. Why is she being nice?”

There was no point in lying. Micah would find out sooner or later. Might as well come clean now.

“She, ah, she wasn’t talking to you. She was talking to me.”

Micah quickly turned on her heel to face her brother.

“Please, please tell me that you aren’t that stupid.”

“I just…we had 7th period together and we just talked and I don’t know. We just clicked.”

His sister was staring at him like he had two heads. She knew that Matt wasn’t telling her everything. He finally caved and gave up the whole story.

“And I asked her on a date…”

“YOU ASKED SATAN ON A DATE!?”

“Shhhh.” Matt looked around at everyone staring at her sister causing a scene.

“Are you stupid?!”

“Micah we will talk about this later! Go to practice.”

Hearing the word ‘practice’ changed Micah’s focus. She decided that she would just have to finish this conversation later because she wasn’t going to be late for her first time back on a soccer team. She started walking off when she stopped and grabbed the sheet of assignments from her brother and headed to practice.

-

After hours of talking to her favorite mother-in-laws Kate finally left. Ali actually talked Eli into picking up Parker and taking him to tennis. The wives first day of freedom was almost gone and they haven’t had any alone time. Or to Ali’s disgust, a shower.

“Let’s have a big family. It’ll be fun.” Ashlyn said in a mocking voice, laying back on the couch.

“Babe I’m pretty sure you said that.” Ali added playing with her wife’s hair now that her wife’s head was resting on her lap.

“Let’s give a couple away. Sound good?”

“Sure. Which ones do you want to go?”

“Uh. I can’t choice. We can just flip a coin.”

Ali laughed knowing that her wife wasn’t serious. The kids were crazy but they loved them more than what seemed humanly possible.

The feeling of Ali’s fingers running through her hair reminded her of their TWO earlier plans getting ruined. Also that the house was empty. She moved her hand to Ali’s shirt and moved to rake her fingers across her wife’s abs. She could hear Ali’s breathing change and knew she was finally going to get what she had been waiting for. Ash quickly moved, pulling Ali to lay under her. Ali’s eyes darkened and she grabbed Ashlyn’s shirt pulling her down to connect their lips. They needed a bed. Fast.

Ashlyn quickly stood picking Ali up bridal style and headed to their room. She gently laid Ali down on the bed and crawled on top of her. Ali quickly pulled her wife’s shirt off then flipped their positions. Once on top she started trailing down Ashlyn’s stomach with gentle kisses. She was working her way back up when she heard her phone ringing.

“No!” Ashlyn practically yelled reaching over and silencing the phone without even looking. To distract her wife from the call she pulled her shirt off, flipping them back to their original positions. Ali’s nails scratched down Ashlyn’s back, encouraging her to continue when Ashlyn’s phone started going off. That could only mean one thing. It was one of their kids.

Ali reached for her wife’s phone before she could decline the hall.

                “Hey baby.”

                “Yeah, she can.”

                “No problem.”

                “Of course. Love you.”

Ali set the phone down and stood up, putting her shirt back on. Ashlyn was confused and once again frustrated. Ali let her wife in on the conversation she just had.

“Micah needs you to pick her up from soccer practice because she rode to school with Matt.”

“I decided which ones.”

“What?”

“Which kids to give away. I decided which ones. The twins. They’re the ones.”

“Go pick up your daughter.” Ali said as she walked out of the room.

-

All the kids were home, homework was done, food was served, and they were finally in bed. The family survived the first day of school. After taking, unfortunately separate showers, Ali was putting away the extra food while Ash was cleaning the dishes. Once Ali had the leftovers in the fridge she walked behind her wife, taking her in her arms. Ashlyn leaned into her wife’s touch, laughing.

“Why even try? The world is against us.”

Ali laughed at her dramatic wife as she started placing light kisses on the back of Ash’s neck. It didn’t take long for her to crack and she quickly turned, picking up Ali and setting her on the kitchen counter. She had a tight grip on Ali’s thigh as she grabbed the back of Ashlyn’s neck and dragged her tongue across her wife’s lip asking for permission. Before granting it Ashlyn stepped back just enough to look her wife in the eyes.

“Is this really happen this time? No interruptions?”

Ali smiled and started leaning back into her wife when they heard the front door open and heavy footstep getting closer.

Ava appeared in the kitchen, pissed.

“YOU TALKED TO MY WIFE ABOUT ME?!”

Ali pushed her wife back and hoped of the counter. Ashlyn just pointed at her oldest daughter saying, “And her. We can give her away too.”


	10. Dinner Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thanks so much for all the suggestions you guys have been giving me! I promise I'm going to get to them. I'm laying everything out on a time line but they will come up! Thanks again!

“Mama, we’re going to get coffee. It’s not that big of deal!”

Matt was desperately trying to get Ashlyn to leave him alone about his date. All he wanted to do was eat breakfast and get school over with.

“Then why won’t you tell us who it is?”

“Lucifer.” Matt shot it sister a look. The last thing he needed was his protective mothers thinking he was talking to the leader of hell.

“Reagan Greenfield?” Ali and Ashlyn asked together. The two were well aware of the problems between Reagan and their youngest daughter.

“Okay yes, but before you two write her off know that she has changed.”

Micah and Eli couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of her enemy actually changing. The laughter immediately stopped when Ali said, “Why doesn’t she come over for dinner tonight?”

“Mom you can’t be serious right now!” Micah could not understand why Ali wanted to invite someone like Reagan into her house.

“Seriously mom. It’s fine. We’re just going to get coffee.” Matt didn’t like the idea of Reagan around the family just as much as Micah.

Ashlyn was on her wife’s side. “No your mom is right. We need to meet her somewhere other than a principal’s office…”

“And that one time at the police station.” Eli was loving his little brother’s current situation.

“That too…”Ashlyn started, getting back on track. “You can still get your coffee after school then invite her to the house for our family dinner and game.”

The family had a tradition of making sure everyone was together to eat dinner to celebrate (usually) surviving the first week of school followed by a family game of soccer in the backyard.

“No!” Micah had heard enough and her dramatic switch was now on. “First you want to ruin the safe space that is our home but NOW you want to ruin our sacred family traditions!” She stood pointing at her mothers so that they would understand her show was directed at them. “You two are tearing this family apart!” She grabbed her bag and headed out of the kitchen. “I’m leaving for school.”

“Now THAT she gets after you.” Ashlyn informed Ali after they watched Micah leave. Ali decided to ignore her wife’s comment and put the attention back on her son that would soon be going on a date after school.

“Is there anything Reagan is allergic to? I think I’m making ranch chicken.”

Matt rolled his eyes and grabbed his backpack. He knew that there was no point in arguing with his mothers.

“I’m going to school.”

“Love you Matthew!” Ali called out, pleased with how quickly they won.

“And take your sister her real backpack. She only took her soccer bag.” Ashlyn finished knowing that Micah probably did it on purpose.

Matt kicked his sister’s backpack before picking it up and walking out the door. That was his attempt at proving that he could be dramatic too. Once he got in his car he took a deep breath and called Reagan. It’s going to be a long day at the Harris house.

-

Ava reached over and turned off her alarm.

_Oh it’s finally Friday._

She stood, stretched and made her way out of the guest room and headed toward the master. She gave a light knock on the door before stepping into the room. She wasn’t completely sure why she keeps knocking every morning since it was her room too. Usually Kate was asleep when Ava came in their room to get ready for work but not today.

“You get how ridiculous this is right?”  

Ava just walked to the closet and started picking out what she was going to wear to work. The bed in the guestroom was awful compared to the one the two normally shared so she hasn’t been sleeping well. Ava without sleep was not a happy camper and the last thing she wanted was her wife’s attitude.

“Not now Kathryn. Didn’t sleep well.”

“No one made you sleep in there.”

“Well there is no way I’m getting any sleep in here.”

“I want to talk about it. I’m sorry that makes you mad.”

“I’m not mad! I’m tired! I’m so emotionally and mentally and physically drained then I thought possible! So sorry that I’m not all sunshine and roses on this lovely morning. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go to work.”

Ava finished changing clothes and started out the door. Kate knew that there was no point in trying to stop her.

“Fine. See you at your parent’s tonight.”

“See you there.”

-

“So why exactly does your parents want me to come over tonight?”

Matt just finished filling in Reagan about their forced change in plans for the evening as they were sitting at lunch together.

“They want to meet you I guess.” Matt was nervous. He felt like he was about to drop the girl he was interested in off at a snake bed.

“But we’ve met.” Reagan wasn’t sure how Matt’s family would act toward her given her past with Micah. She also wasn’t completely sure that this wasn’t some elaborate scheme set up by the other twin. Matt noticed the hesitation in her voice.

“I mean we don’t have to go. I can always tell them that you’re sick or your parents need you home or…”

Reagan cut off his rambling. “Matt, Matt, its fine. We can go. I guess I’m just nervous. I don’t really know what to expect.”

Matt COMPLETELY understood.

“They’ll be cool. Hopefully.”

“And Micah?” That who she was really worried about.

“I’ll talk to her.” Not that that was going to do anything. “Everyone will be on their best behavior. I’ll even give you tips on survival.”

“Tips? Do I need to take notes?”

“Um. Yes. But later. I have Chemistry.”

His family would take a lot to explain and he needed to go to class. He decided he would have to fill her in later. As he was walking away he realized he might have left out a huge piece of information.

“Wait. You know I have two moms right?”

Reagan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yes Matt. I’m aware. I’ve met them. Plus I have a Sports Illustrated cover with them on it so…”

“Good. Just didn’t want it to catch you off guard.”

-

“Hey Kate, Did Ava not ride with you?” Ashlyn was surprised that the couple did not show up together.

“Uh, no. I think she’s coming straight from work.” Kate and Ava decided not to let the family in on the fact that they were still fighting but at the same time, Kate wasn’t going to be fake with them.

Ashlyn didn’t think anything about the answer but Ali picked up on her tone. She chose to ignore it for the time being. Kate was ready to change the subject.

“So where is the rest of the Harris Clan?”

Ali answered, “Eli just left to pick up Parker from tennis practice, Micah will be home after soccer and Matt should be back anytime.”

“With his date.” Ashlyn added coldly. She wasn’t particularly fond of her babies dating. It also didn’t help that this girl had a history with Micah. Ash may be hard on the younger blonde but she was the only one who was allowed to be.

“We said we would play nice. She might be a sweet girl. It’s not like she is the first person to have issues with Micah.”

With that the women heard the front door open and Matt’s voice in the distance, “Hey guys?”

“In here!” The women replied together and waited for their son and guest to appear in the kitchen. Matt instantly felt better when he noticed that most of his family was still out of the house.

“Guys, this is Reagan. Reagan, these are my moms and my sister-in-law Kate.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Thanks for having me over Mrs. Harris…and Mrs. Harris.” She wasn’t really sure how to greet them together.

Kate offered a wave and a smile while Ali made her way around the counter to greet the girl properly with a hug.

“Oh honey, call me Ali.” When she stepped back she noticed that her wife had yet to move and was just staring at the young girl in front of them. Ali decided to answer for her other half.

“And you can call her Ashlyn.”

Realizing that her wife would want her to make some form of greeting, Ashlyn extended her hand for the girl to shake. Matt didn’t completely understand why his mom was acting so weird. She normally acted this way with Micah’s dates, not his. Ali gave her wife an extra look of warning and was about to announce that the food was done when two more of her boys appeared. When Eli saw Reagan he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Holy crap you actually brought her here.”

Ali quickly shot him a look and spoke through her gritted teeth. “And we are very happy to have her.”

Eli quickly surrendered.

“Hi, Eli.” They had met a couple times in passing at school but she figured he had heard horror stories from his sister. Parker noticed that he was just going to have to introduce himself.

“Hey, I’m Parker. I don’t care that you fight with Micah.” He was never known for being smooth. Reagan felt her cheeks turn red but offered a small smile to the boy.

Ali was more than ready get the attention of her sons’ comments. “Food’s ready so why don’t we go ahead and get started.”

As everyone was taking their seats Ava appeared. She didn’t even bother to look at Kate as she offered a general ‘hello’ to the table and took her seat. It was a long day and all she wanted to do was eat. She had already filled her plate and started eating when she noticed the stranger sitting next to her.

“Who is this?”

“Matt’s girlfriend.” Parker quickly answered, grinning at the girl. Matt turned bright red and stuttered trying to explain.

“Um no… we… we just … we got coffee. That’s all. Uhm. This is my sister Ava. Ava, this is Reagan.”

“The same Reagan that got arrested with Micah?”

Once again Ali was not pleased with her children calling out the guest. Before she had time to say anything Reagan answered figuring joking was the only way she was going to survive this night.

“Uh. Yeah. But other than that my record is clean.”

“Not true.” No one even noticed that Micah had come in the house and heard part of the conversation. She dropped her soccer bag on the floor and headed for her mothers. She gave Ashlyn a fist bump and kissed Ali on the cheek before turning to the dinner guest.

“Were you not one of the girls picked up in that prostitution ring last spring?” She was obviously lying. She just wanted to see if she could get a rise from Reagan. “No? Hm. Could have sworn that was you.”

Micah got a rise from Ali instead who quickly smacked her in the butt and told her to sit down but not before the girls shared a glare.

-

Surprisingly the family made it through a semi awkward dinner and was getting ready for the annual family soccer game. Although Micah was the only one of the kids to choose soccer, the whole family enjoys the sport and are generally good at it. The teams were set, and much to Micah’s relief, Reagan didn’t want to play. She just explained that sports weren’t her thing which set Micah up with tons of jokes. Ali informed her that it was for her to watch before shooting her youngest daughter a dangerous look. It was game time.

Ashlyn’s team was herself in goal, Micah playing defense, and Matt playing forward. She claimed the twins at a young age.

The other team was Eli in goal, Ali playing defense, and Parker and Kate were forwards. Ali’s team was bigger but the skill level was pretty even. Parker just kind of ran around. He was good but he wasn’t at his older family members’ level and there was no way that they were going to back down. The whole family was extremely competitive. Kate had taken the place of Tyler when he left since she played in high school.

Ava was trained to be the ref as a kid. Like Reagan, sports weren’t her thing. She was athletic and loved to dance and cheer but getting sweaty and dirty disgust her.

With a whistle the game began. Kate immediately ran down the right side of the family’s homemade pitch with the ball. Before she even got close to being a threat for Ashlyn, Micah slide across, knocking the ball away from her feet. Kate stumbled over Micah in the process and Ava called a foul. Kate stared at her wife and quickly realized her reason behind the call.

_This is going to be a long game._

As Matt was getting the ball, Micah shot Reagan a look. She was going to make sure and show off to her enemy. Matt noticed the exchange and knew that he wanted to impress the girl too. Just for obviously different reasons.

The game was more intense that usual between the twins showing out and Ava’s insane calls against Kate. There was only 3 minutes left and the score was tied 0-0.

Micah got the ball away from Kate and passed it to her twin. Matt glanced over and Reagan gave him a wink. That was all his boy brain needed. He was determined to score now. Matt took off down the line and easily got around Parker. He went 1v1 with his mom and charged forward, knocking Ali back to the ground, hard. She instantly grabbed her wrist.

“Oh crap Mom! I didn’t mean to!”

Within seconds Ashlyn was at her wife’s side.

“What’s wrong, Al?”

“It’s my wrist. I tried to catch myself.” Ashlyn gently looked over Ali’s wrist that was already starting to swell.

“Mom I’m so sorry. I just wanted to score and I didn’t know that you would fall and…”

Ali offered her boy a smile and tried to pretend that she was fine. “It’s okay Matt. Part of the game.”

His mom might have been letting him off easy but his siblings weren’t going to. Eli was the first one to start in on their brother.

“Dude you broke our mom.”

“Stop.”

“You could have killed her.” Parker heard this and didn’t realize the joke. He began to panic.

“Mom are you okay?! Mama is she going to be okay?! Take her to the hospital before she dies!”

Ali rolled her eyes at her older kids before answering the little boy holding on to her in tears.

“I’m not dying Park. I’m fine. My wrist just hurts a little. No need to call 911, love.”

“I do think you need to go to the doctor though babe.” The swelling made Ashlyn a little concerned. She knew her wife had to be in more pain than she was letting on.

“It’s pretty late Ash. I’ll have to wait till tomorrow.”

“Um. My mom is a nurse. She can come take a look at it.” No one noticed that Reagan had approached the family surrounding Ali.

Knowing that someone could help her wife was all that Ashlyn needed to hear and within 30 minutes Mrs. Greenfield was knocking on the door.

-

“That’s a pretty good sprain, Mrs. Harris.”

“Please, call me Ali.”

“Courtney.”

Ashlyn wasn’t really interested in polite greetings at the moment. Her main concern was her wife.

“What does she need to do?”

Reagan’s mom was more than use to panic spouses.

“I brought an ace bandage so I’m going to wrap it for you. Take some Tylenol and I suggest making a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get an x-ray just in case. Everything should be good.”

“Thank you so much Courtney! It was really nice for you to come all the way over here so late.”

“No problem! Are you ready to go Reagan?” Since her mom was now here there was no point in Matt taking her home.

Ashlyn stood to show them to the door, thanking Courtney along the way.

“Thanks for having me over for dinner Mrs. Harris. I really enjoyed myself.”

“Ashlyn. You can call me Ashlyn.” And she bent down offering Reagan a hug. When the two where gone Ashlyn turned and saw Micah standing in the hall.

“Traitor.”

“Love you Mic.”

“Nope. Not right now. Over it.”

_There’s that drama again._


	11. Can't Keep Doing This

After Reagan and her mom left, Ava decided it was time for her and Kate to leave as well.

“Ready, babe?”

Kate gave Ava a look. They had barely exchanged 10 words tonight and now Ava had the audacity to call her ‘babe’? The face her wife made instantly made Ava defensive.

“You know what, you drove. Leave when you want.”

Kate didn’t even answer. She stood, kissed both her mother-in-laws on the cheek, and walked out the door. Ava was kind of taken back by her wife’s reaction. Normally Kate was the calmer of the two. Lord knows what she would be coming home too.

She took a deep breath and told her family goodbye. Ali walked her to the door.

“Talk to your wife.”

Ava just rolled her eyes. Of course her mom knew.

“I’ve tried.”

“Don’t lie to me Ava Faith, I’ve known you your whole life.” And with that she kissed her daughter on the cheek and opened the door.

-

Micah was walking around the living room looking at every detail. Ashlyn took notice but gave her daughter another minute to continue her search. Eventually she had to speak up when she noticed that Micah was actually writing something down. She didn’t know if her drama switch was still on so she approached with caution.

“Hey, kid?”

“Mhmm?” Micah was working too intensely to give her a real answer.

“Um. Whatcha got there?”

“Inventory.” Apparently she thought that was information enough but Ash decided to just keep watching her weird teenager work and not push it. Ali walked back down stairs from tucking Parker in and sat next to her wife propping her arm on the pillow in Ashlyn’s lap. She started flipping through the channels when she noticed her daughter’s actions as well.

“Babe, what is your mini me doing?”

“Inventory.”

That wasn’t answer enough for Ali so when Ashlyn just shrugged she decided she would be the one to dig for more information.

“Mic?”

“Ma’am?” She knew better than to just grunt at Ali.

“What are you doing, love?”

Micah also knew that Ali would be expecting details. “I’m taking inventory of all the stuff in the house. Want to make sure it is all still here.”

“Okay…but why would anything be missing?”

“Satan was here.”

_There it is._

Matt had heard enough. “You’re ridiculous! Why would she steal anything?!”

“Because she’s Reagan and being awful is kind of her thing.”

Within seconds a full blown argument had started between the two. Ali decided she might as well start pulling the card now. She looked at her wife with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could make.

“Honey, can you handle this? I would but my wrist just really, really hurts.”

Ashlyn knew what her wife was doing but there was no way she could tell her no.

“Hey! Hey! Stop yelling!” The twins stopped and looked at their Mama.

“Matt. It’s going to take time for your sister to get use to Reagan being around, so patience. Micah. Reagan didn’t steal anything. You have to _try_ and get along with this girl. She seemed nice.”

Micah’s drama switch was definitely still on.

“Are you even my mother?! I mean, isn’t it in your job description to be on my side? I need to pray for you because apparently you have started following Satan.” And with that she was gone. Matt rolled his eyes and followed his sister upstairs.

The moms couldn’t help but laugh until they heard arguing above them. Ali moved to go take care of business but Ashlyn pulled her back down.

“I said I got it. Would hate for you to hurt your wrist.”

Ashlyn grabbed her phone and sent the two fighting a text.

MAMA: Wake Parker up and die. Love you.

It got quiet.

-

It took Ava over an hour to make it home. The drive normally took less than 10 minutes but she made a few laps. She couldn’t decided if it was going to make things worse but she was already in trouble so how much more pissed could she get? The house was quiet and all the lights were turned off.

_Good. She’s asleep._

Ava kicked off her shoes and headed to the guest room ready to fall on the bed and crash. She opened the door and jumped. She wasn’t expecting Kate to be sitting on the bed waiting.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I just thought you were asleep.”

“We can’t keep doing this. I refuse. We’re going to talk. You have no excuse. You’re off work tomorrow and I’ve made a pot of coffee. Ava, we’re going to talk.”

Ava looked at her wife. She really didn’t have any excuses. Without a word she walked out of the room. Kate was about to lose it when Ava stuck her head back through the door.

“Do you want a cup too?”

“Yes please.”

-

Eli knocked on Micah’s door and she invited him in. He sat on her bed watching TV while Micah worked on homework at her desk. They didn’t really talk but this and working out was how they spent time together. It started right after Tyler left. He and Micah were pretty close so with him gone, Eli stepped up. In his eyes, his little sister needs a protector. It was just routine for Eli to sit with her if the twins were fighting. He figured she needed some brotherly love. Micah didn’t really care either but she appreciated the thought.

Eli was deeply focused on ESPN and didn’t notice his sister trying to get his attention.

“Eli. Eli. Eli. Elijah. Elijah Cole!”

“Hm.” Not taking his eyes of the TV.

“Did you even hear me?” Eli decided just to take a guess.

“Yes I agree. Reagan is awful. Total bitch. You’re prettier, and smarter, and prettier.”

Maybe Eli was her favorite brother.

“Um. Thanks. But I heard my phone go off. Will you give it to me?”

Usually Eli held onto her phone while she was doing school work so she wouldn’t get distracted. If she didn’t make good grades then she couldn’t play soccer. Ali and Ashlyn had always pushed that rule.

“Seriously dude I’m done. Let me check my phone.”

Eli handed it over and Micah looked for her the notification. She had a new text message and couldn’t help rolling her eyes when she saw who it was from.

LUCIFER: Had fun at your house tonight. Can’t wait to become part of the family. Seems like they already   like me. Who knew a fake smile and biting my tongue would get me in good with the Harris’s? That must reeeeaaaaally bother you. Love ya future sis.

-

Ava sat on the bed next to Kate sipping their coffee in silence. They decided to move to their actual bedroom so that they could sit together instead of squeezing on the twin bed in the guest room. Finally Kate broke the silence.

“Can we talk now?”

“I don’t want to keep making you mad.”

“Ava, your answer isn’t what made me made. What made me mad was that after saying it you shut down then shut me out. I’m sorry if I think I deserve an explanation.”

“You do deserve one.”

“Okay then tell me.”

“Maybe I just don’t like kids.” Kate raised an eyebrow at her wife. She has seen Ava with kids and she was great. Kate was a little skeptical about that answer.

“So you don’t like kids?”

“They’re expensive and gross and annoying. I don’t like them. I mean it makes sense. Look at my family!”

“Are you seriously blaming your siblings right now?” Voices were starting to rise.

“They’re spawns of Satan, Kate! You’re an only child, you don’t get it!”

There it was. Now both women were standing up at opposite ends of the room, screaming.

“Are you saying I know nothing about kids?! So you think I don’t know how to be mom?!”

“No Kate you don’t! Your mom died when you were born! You were raised by your dad who was never around!”

“Oh! But since you had two moms you know everything there is to know about kids and being a parent?!”

“No! I don’t! That’s the point, Kate! We don’t know anything!”

“No one knows at first! We would figure it out!”

“Kate! I DON’T NEED A TRIAL KID TO KNOW THAT I’M GOING TO BE A BAD MOM!!”

That caught Kate off guard. Ava continued trying to explain.

“It’s in my blood! It’s just part of me!”

Now Kate knew were this was going. Her tone immediately softened.

“Av…”

“Don’t!”

Kate moved to Ava and grabbed her shoulders to make sure her wife was focused. “You are not Maria.”

“We don’t know that. She didn’t want me. She didn’t know how to raise a kid so chances are I don’t either.”

Kate noticed that Ava’s eyes were beginning to water. She walked them over to sit on the bed.

“Baby, you are in a completely didn’t place than where Maria was. She was 16, a dropout, and homeless. Babe, we’re married, we have jobs, and we are madly, madly in love.”

Ava let a small smile appear on her face and she leaned into her wife’s side. Kate continued.

“I know it hurts but it was actually smart and very unselfish of Maria to let you be adopted. Look how your life has been. You have two moms who couldn’t love you more. Not to mention your 5 annoying siblings that you know you would be willing to die for.”

At this point Ava had full blown tears running down her face.

“Biology has nothing to do with it. You were raised by awesome women who taught you love, compassion, and patience. There is not a doubt in my mind that you are going to make a great mom Ava Faith.”

She lifted her head so that they were facing each other. She offered Ava a soft smile and wiped away her tears before hugging her tight and letting her finish crying about a part of her that she always tried to ignore. Finally Kate heard a muffled voice against her neck. She gave a small laugh.

“Want to say that again?”

Ava leaned back from her wife and repeated herself.

“Can we please just lay together?”

Kate leaned down and closed the gap between them placing a soft kiss on Ava’s lips.

“I would love to.”


	12. 1,2, or 3?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go! Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

ASHLYN: 2

Ali knew exactly what that text meant. All the kids had their own personalities but when it came to sports they were identical. They were crazy competitive, worked hard, and took mistakes harder. They were by far their greatest critics. The moms tried to pretend like they didn’t know where the kids got it from.

When they started playing, Ali and Ashlyn came up with a system for whenever they both couldn’t make it to games. It ranked the kids from 1-3 based on the game and kids’ performance. This way the other knows what to expect when they come home.

1= The team won. Everything is great

2= The team won, but ‘said child’ didn’t play their best or made a mistake. They aren’t going to be in the best mood.

3= The team lost. Steer clear. Dangerous.

Thankfully, they had extremely athletic kids so they didn’t have to experience many 3’s.

In this case, Ashlyn’s text referred to Micah. She just got named captain of her school team and felt like everything rode on her. Ali wished she could have been there. This was the second game this season that Ali had missed. She had to take Parker to hockey then to a dentist appointment so Ashlyn took on soccer mom duties again today.

Ali grabbed a bottle of Gatorade out of the fridge and an ice pack. She had this routine down. Matt then came in the door holding hands with Reagan and laughing.

“Hey Matt this might not be the best idea.”

He was about to question his mother when he noticed what she was holding.

“What was it?”

“2.”

Matt was beginning to quickly agree with this mother. He turned to address his new girlfriend.

“Babe, can we study at your house instead?”

Ali cringed at the word. The moms approved of Reagan but they still had their suspicions. Plus, that was her baby boy. Reagan was not on the same page as the two in front of her.

“We… we just got here though. Your moms were going to cook right?”

Ali thought she would help her son explain how Harris’s work. “If its ok with you, can we do a rain check? Micah didn’t have a good game so having guest over right now would be a lot to handle.”

“Basically she doesn’t need to be around me?” Reagan said with her best ‘I’m an angel’ voice. Matt immediately looked at Ali.

“Mom. She should be ok.” Matt knew his words weren’t true but Reagan’s tactic was working against him. His girlfriend had a new approach when it came to the Harris family. She loved to play victim and use a guilt trip. It _always_ worked on Matt and usually on Ali but not this time. She knew that at any moment her daughter would be walking through the door ready to fight. Reagan had to go.

“Not tonight guys. Here take my card and go get some dinner. Call Eli and invite him too so I don’t have to worry about feeding him. And just food Matthew Grey, I’m not kidding. Text me when you decided where you're going to study." Parker went to her dad’s after the dentist so that they could go fishing so she wasn’t worried about him. Ali dug through her purse for her wallet when she heard the front door open.

Before Matt could move to block the view of his girlfriend, Micah was in the door, standing face-to-face with Reagan. Ashlyn froze when she saw the scene. She reached over Ali grabbing the Gatorade and placed it in her daughter’s hand. Micah looked at the drink then back at Reagan. She stood there for a second longer before stepping around her enemy and walking upstairs to shower. For the first time in a long time, Reagan was scared of Micah. She slowly looked at Matt for comfort. He didn’t have much to give.

“Yeah you should see her when they lose a game. Terrifying.”

“Wait, they won?! Why is she mad!?”

“Don’t try to understand the mind of a Harris.” He added while pulling Reagan to the door, grabbing Ali’s debit card along the way.

Ashlyn let out the breath that she was holding. “That could have been bad.”

“I tried to get her out faster.”

Micah still wasn’t close to approving of her twin’s new relationship and she loved to voice that opinion. The two moms expected the worse and was relieved that the exchange was short and nonviolent. Now Ali needed to hear about how her daughter played.

“So how did the game go?” She asked, following her wife to the kitchen so she could grab herself a drink.

“They beat South Raven 2-1. Team looked pretty clean. It was a good game.”

“And Micah?”

Ashlyn took a sip of her drink and shook her head with a soft smile.

“She honestly played fine. It’s really cool to watch her take charge on the pitch.” Ali really hated missing her kids’ games.

“But she made a mistake?” There had to be a reason that Micah was at a ‘2.’

Ash’s smile dropped. “She fouled a girl inside the box resulting in a penalty kick. That’s the only reason the other team scored.”

“Ouch.”

“Yep.” Both women knew all too well what their little girl was feeling.

-

Ava basically ran through her front door.

“You haven’t done it yet, right?!’

She basically threw her bag across the room and sprinted down the hall trying to find her wife. Kate laughed as she watched her wife slide past the bathroom on her search.

“In here babe.”

After some quick ‘Marco-Polo’ Ava found her wife.

“Have you done it yet?!”

“No honey, I said I would wait for you to get off. I’ve just been chugging water and waiting for you.”

“Well here I am! Do it, do it, do it!”

Kate loved how excited her wife was. No one would have guessed that a month ago the two where fighting about this. She grabbed the box off the bathroom counter and pulled out the pregnancy test.

“But what if it’s negative?” The couple started doing IVF treatments a few weeks back after deciding they were ready to be parents. This was all Kate ever wanted, and honestly that scared her. What if the treatment didn’t work? What if her dreams get crushed? And now the Ava was on board, she would get her hopes up too.

Ava could tell that her wife was over thinking. She stepped closer to Kate, wrapping her arms around her waist and placing a soft kiss on her lips before replying in a gentle tone, “Then we will try again. And again. As many times as you want.”

“And if it never works?”

“Baby we went the doctor. You’re fine. But if for some crazy reason it _never_ works, we could adopt.”

Ava didn’t know why she wasn’t freaked out. Once she got over her fear of being a bad mom, it was like something just clicked and she knew this was exactly where her and Kate were supposed to be.

Kate laid her head on her wife’s shoulder needing some extra comfort. Ava was making sense. This would work out. She just really wanted it to work now! She wanted to be pregnant and become the mom she never had. Ava felt her wife tense in her arms.

“I know you’re nervous but there is only one way to find out.”

“I know.” But she made no efforts to move from her wife’s grip. Ava couldn’t help but laugh.

“Whenever you’re ready.” And she gently rubbed Kate’s back until she moved and picked the pregnancy test back off the counter. Ava was right. There was only one way to find out.

-

Ali heard the shower upstairs turn off. She sat on the couch and sent her wife a text.

ALI: She’s about to come downstairs. Text me when you’re on the way back. Love you.

Parker asked to spend the night with Ali’s dad so Ashlyn went to take him clothes and a toothbrush. She decided that she would just stay at her father-in-law’s for a few hours to give her girls some time alone. Even though Ashlyn was hard on the younger blonde, they were still really close. If she wasn’t in trouble, Micah always went to Ashlyn for advice or to tell a story. They just had that bond. This situation was different.

After games Micah always wanted Ali. If she played well and the team won, she always wanted to go over the highlights with Ali first. When she made mistakes she wanted Ali to walk through it with her and help her get better. It was their time to bond.

Ali sat on her phone, waiting for Micah to return. She saw that her wife had replied.

ASHLYN: Will do. Love you.

As expected, Micah came back down stairs grabbed the now semi-thawed ice pack from the table and sat on the opposite end of the couch from her mom. She adjusted herself so that the ice pack would sit on her right hip. It always have her trouble after games.

Ali just flipped channels waiting. When she turned to ABC Family’s Harry Potter Marathon, she heard Micah say, “Stop.” Ali put down the remote and quietly watched The Chamber of Secretes until the younger blonde was ready to talk. About 10 minutes later, Micah moved next to her mom and curled in to her side. Ali reflexively put her arms around her daughter and got ready to be a coach/mom. Micah was finally ready to talk about the game.

“I let the team down.”

“Mic, you won.”

“No, the team won. I’m the one that let the other side score.”

Ali was thankful that her daughter couldn’t see her smiling. She just loved that her hard core, takes no crap from anyone, always in trouble daughter was so humble. She always credited her team even though she carried a lot of the weight.

“I’m sure they don’t blame you, love. Everyone makes mistakes.”

“They got a PK because of me. I shouldn’t be making fouls like that. I’m the captain and I put the game at risk.”

Micah’s voice was weak. She was honestly disappointed in herself.

“Micah, it doesn’t matter how long you have played. You will make mistakes. It was rare that I ever had a completely perfect game. Messing up is never easy but you have to learn from it and move on. Plus Mama told me that the call was crap anyway.”

Ashlyn was never one to lie when it came their kids’ performances. She wasn’t harsh, just honest. The kids didn’t mind it because it helped them improve. If Ashlyn said it was a bad call, it was a bad call.

“But it still happened Mom. We almost had to go into overtime.”

“But you didn’t. Your team stepped up. And think. If you weren’t on that back line how many times would South Raven probably scored?”

Micah just shrugged her shoulders. She hadn’t honestly thought about it.

“You know how to do your job, Mic.”

When she didn’t receive a response, Ali knew what the next step needed to be.

“Want to watch the footage?”

“Please.”

Ali hooked up the camera that Ashlyn recorded the game on to the TV and the two went through it play by play. When she noticed something that could use improvement she would point it out and explain why it would work better. Another thing is she would make sure to point out all the positives. Honestly, that was Micah’s favorite part. She loved being able to improve but to hear her mom, one of the best defenders in the world, compliment her made her feel special. She would never openly admit it, but she had a pretty cool family.

-

Ava and Kate knocked on the door of the Harris house before using Ava’s key and stepping in. Their moms always invited them over when they cooked big meals. In the hustle of Micah’s game not going as planned and Reagan’s near death experience, Ali had forgotten to tell her oldest that food was cancelled. Ashlyn had returned about an hour earlier with pizza for the three since the boys where still gone.

Ava saw the empty Papa John boxes and was confused until she saw Micah leaning into Ali.

“Bad game Mic?”

“Could have been better.”

All of a sudden it clicked for Ali that she forgot to text Ava.

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I didn’t get a chance to cook. There is a few pieces of pizza left if you want them.”

“No there’s not.” Ash replied with a mouth full of food.

Ali rolled her eyes at her wife and tried to think of a way to make it up to her oldest.

“Ashlyn, will you grab the menus out of the drawer? You two can order delivery from where ever you want.”

“Mom, seriously it’s okay.”

“No, no I insist. The boys are out of the house. We’ll make it a girls’ night.”

Ashlyn returned to the living room balancing the menus, four glasses and a bottle of wine.

“If we’re going to have a girls’ night then we are going to do it right.”

She set the glasses down and Micah moved to grab one. At the same time both moms said,

“Don’t even think it about Micah Grace.”

“It was worth a shot.”

Ashlyn thumped her in the head before handing her a bottle of water. She then handed Ava and Kate a glass.

“Just say when.”

Before she could even start pouring Kate said, “When.”

Ashlyn was confused but Ali immediately got it. She shrieked and covered her mouth with her hands. The scream scared Ashlyn and Micah. They needed more time to catch up which Ali didn’t notice.

“Are you serious?!’

“Yeah we just found out. We still have to go the doctor to get everything checked out but yes!” The two had the biggest smile on their faces. Micah was the next one to catch on.

“Holy crap.”

“Was that a good ‘holy crap’ or a bad ‘holy crap’?”

“A good ‘holy crap’! I mean a shocked ‘holy crap’ but still a good one! Way to knock her up sis!” She joked.

Finally Ashlyn caught on.

“I’m going to have a grandbaby!!” She quickly wrapped Ava and Kate in a hug. She was busy crushing the two when she heard the _loving_ words from her youngest daughter,

“That means you’re getting old.”

Both moms _lovingly_ shoved her off the couch.


	13. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so this is kind of a heavier chapter but at least you get a little Tyler in it! There is also a little more language in this chapter. Sorry if it offends you! I don't really have much of a filter to begin with. Also please read the notes at the end of this chapter. Thanks for reading!

“WHERE IS HE?!”

Micah came flying through the door yelling and was clearly pissed at some male that lived in this house. Ashlyn decided that she would be the one to put herself in the path of destruction.

“Honey, there are several ‘he’s in this family. Which one?”

“MATT!”

Matt heard his name being called and made his way to the living room apparently not picking up on his sister’s tone.

“Sup, Mic?”

“SUP?!” Micah replied through gritted teeth. Now he knew.

“What…what did I do?”

The moms just watched the scene unfold. In the past, when the twins started arguing they would yell for them to drop it and send them in different directions. The problem was that they would start again anytime they come in contact for days. Now, the parents just supervised while they got it all out. Parker also heard the screaming and was now peeking from the top of the stairs hoping to listen in. Unfortunately, Ali saw him.

“Nope. Go back to your room Park.” It was safer this way.

Once Parker was gone, Micah continued.

“YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS A SATANIC, FAKE, ATTENTION SEEKING, BITCH!!”

“Watch your mouth Micah Grace!” Ali yelled while Ashlyn stood, placing herself between the twins before things got worse. She was expecting a huge reaction from Matt and was surprised when all he did was laugh.

“Funny. She calls you the same thing.”

Micah saw red. She lunged forward trying to get to her brother but was blocked by Ashlyn telling her to calm down and focus.

During the chaos, Reagan walked around the corner looking for Matt and figured she should just follow the noise. She heard what Micah said and had a small smile on her face knowing she finally got the rise that she had been waiting for. She decided to act coy about the situation.

“Hey Matt, are we going to finish that homework? It’s getting kind of late.”

Ashlyn chose to keep a hand on her daughter because this situation could only escalate. Ali even stood for extra help.

Micah took a deep breath and spoke with a clenched jaw.

“Why. Are. You. Always. Here?”

“I invited her.” Matt clearly didn’t care that his sister was ready to punch him and his girlfriend in the throat. Reagan picked up on it and there was no way that she was going to pass on the opportunity to make the situation worse.

“Oh. Did your coach talk to you?”

Micah moved in an effort to get out of her mother’s grip but Ashlyn only tightened her hold. Reagan’s smile grew as she kept trying to push every button possible.

“I really hope you didn’t get in too much trouble.”

The words started to sink in and now Ashlyn needed to know what was going on.

“Wait, why would you be getting in trouble with your coach?”

Micah didn’t answer. She was too busy staring down the girl that was apparently trying to ruin her life. Once again Reagan thought now would be a good time to step in.

“Do you want me to tell them?”

“What I want is for you to get a black eye. Here let me help.” Micah’s path was still blocked. Ashlyn was over playing security guard and wanted her daughter to start talking. She put on her stern ‘mom look’ and faced her daughter, waiting for information. Finally Micah felt the burn of her Mama’s gaze and knew she need to answer.

“Because of that serpent across the room I had to be drug tested and I can’t play until I get cleared.”

“EXCUSE ME?!” Both parent’s yelled together. Reagan clearly didn’t understand how serious of a topic this was for the Harris family. It took everything in her not to laugh as she added more detail to the story.

“I’m so sorry Micah. That must have been so humiliating for you. It’s just that I saw you taking a hand full of pills at your locker this morning and I wanted to make sure that you would get the help you needed.” To add insult to injury, Matt laughed.

“Matthew I think that it’s time to take Reagan home.” Ali knew the first step of getting through this was getting part of the problem out of the house.

The two disappeared to the kitchen for Reagan to gather her belongings. Ashlyn hadn’t even noticed because she was too focused on her daughter.

“Micah Grace I’m going to ask you this one time and you will not lie to me, understand?” Micah saw the disappointment in her eyes and it only made her more pissed.

“You CAN’T be serious right now?!”

Ali thought that she should would try to get the truth but, “You can tell us…” was all she got out because Micah cut her off.

“You too?!”

“Micah…”

“No! Screw both of you!” And she ran upstairs in angry tears.

-

Micah slammed her bedroom door. She knew that there was no point in locking it because her parents would be up there soon. For the first time in a really long time she wished that Eli wasn't at his dorm. Maybe he was right all along about needing extra brotherly love. All she wanted was for him to tell her that she was better than Reagan. She decided to send him a text about everything that just happened before her phone was taken away. She knew that he would have her back.

-

As soon as Matt and Reagan left Ashlyn started for the stairs. She was stopped when Ali got in her path.

“Ashlyn, look at me.” She waited for her wife to make eye contact with her before continuing.

“You need to calm down.”

Ashlyn was completely taken back by this. Apparently her wife did not just witness the same situation that she did because there was no way that she was the one who needed to calm down.

“Me? I need to? Alex did you not just hear what our daughter said?! Did you not just listen to what she was accused of doing?!”

“Yes, of course I did. That why I know that you need to calm down before going up there. You wouldn’t be acting like this if it wasn’t one of the twins. If you confront her like this it’s going to get worse.”

Ali was worried and upset with Micah too but she understood that they weren’t going to get anywhere without being rational. Ashlyn didn’t see it that way. She was ready to put her foot down.

“Alex, I will not ignore this and act like it’s no big deal. We tried that with Tyler and look how that ended up! We have paid for rehab three different times just for him to leave, we keep constant money in his account and lord knows what he spends it on, we never see him! Al, I’m not doing that again. This is getting solved now!”

And with that she ran up the stairs to her daughter’s room. Ali took a deep breathe and followed her wife.

-

Micah heard the footsteps and readied herself for war. Ashlyn didn’t even bother to knock. She threw the door open and stood there waiting for Micah to spill.

“What, are you not going to start yelling?”

“I was giving you a chance to explain yourself.”

“Explain what? That Reagan is an awful person because I’ve tried to explain that several times.”

“Micah, I not in the mood for your attitude. Where did you get the drugs?”

“Where did I get drugs?! You can’t be…Mom are you going to say anything?!”

“Answer your mother.” Ali didn’t necessarily agree with how blunt Ashlyn was being but her daughter’s continued attitude increased her own anger. She wanted answers too.

Micah was shocked. “I didn’t get drugs from anywhere!”

That wasn’t a good enough answer for Ashlyn. “So Reagan just pulled that story out of thin air? She didn’t see you taking pills at your locker?!”

“What she saw was me taking my heart pill! The same pill that I’ve taken after lunch everyday for the past 7 years!”

“Then why did she say handful?!”

“BECAUSE SHE IS CRAZY!!”

“Do NOT yell at us like that!” Ali knew that her daughter was upset but she wasn’t going to let her disrespect them. “We just don’t want you to turn into Tyler.”

“I’m not Tyler!”

“We know you’re not Tyler but this is how he started!” Ashlyn was determined that their little girl wasn’t going to follow his path.

“This is where…what are you talking about?!”

“Sneaking pills, Micah!”

“The only pills that I took was my heart medicine! Why can’t you just trust me?!”

“Why should I trust you?!”

“Ashlyn…” Ali felt like her wife was starting to get off topic.

“No Alex, I’m serious! What has she ever done to earn our trust?! She is constantly suspended from school or getting into fights! Do I even need to bring up that party?!”

“WELL I’M SORRY I’M SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT!”

“ME TOO!” Ashlyn didn’t mean it but she was blinded by her anger and fear for her daughter. The words were already out and there was no taking them back.

Micah knew her mom was mad but she didn’t expect her to agree with her. The weight of her mom’s confession started to sink in. She couldn’t breathe and her sight was starting to blur.

Ashlyn was still too mad to see what was happening. Thankfully Ali noticed. She went to Micah and held her face in her hands. “Mic, baby, breathe.”

Micah continued taking in rapid breathes. She was having a full blown panic attack. Ali grabbed her hand and placed it on her own chest.

“Follow my breathing. Deep breaths.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “Ali please. She’s being dramatic.”

Now Ali’s anger was directed at her wife. “Ashlyn she can’t breathe and you’re not helping!”

“She is just trying to get out of trouble!”

“STOP TALKING AND GO GET YOUR DAUGHTER’S ANXIETY MEDICINE!!”

Ashlyn knew that her wife wasn’t playing. She left to grab Micah’s medication, not really in a hurry, and returned to her daughter sobbing into her Ali’s chest. At least her breathing was almost back to normal.

-

“You went to too far!”

After setting Micah’s pills on her dresser, Ashlyn left to go take a shower. Her wife was pissed and she knew that she was going to hear it.

“Al, I was just trying to be a parent and figure out what is going on with our daughter.”

“You told her that she was a disappointment Ash!”

“I didn’t mean it. Come on Ali, I was mad. And worried.”

“But you said it! Then you called her dramatic when she started having a panic attack! Do you not get that Ashlyn? You hurt her so much that she couldn’t breathe!”

“Our daughter is on drugs and you are yelling at me?”

“Might! Might be on drugs! And you know what, I believe her.”

“I guess we’ll find out when her test comes back!”

“I don’t even know who you are right now.” Ali climbed into bed and turned away from her wife. She hoped for Ashlyn’s sake that she didn’t try to touch her.

-

Matt returned to a quiet home after dropping off Reagan. He didn’t honestly believe that Micah was on drugs. He just figured Reagan saw her taking her heart pill and over reacted. Since the house seemed calm, he assumed that it had been worked out. Surely everything was water under the bridge by now.

After grabbing some left over pizza he headed upstairs. He passed Micah’s door and thought that he would stop by and they would joke about it. He was wrong.

“Get the hell out.” Micah didn’t yell it. It was calm and scary.

“Wait. Are you mad?”

Micah didn’t respond. She looked at him with fire in her eyes.

“Mic, I don’t think you’re on drugs. I know you wouldn’t touch that stuff after what happened with Tyler.”

Micah still didn’t say anything.

“Are you giving me the silent treatment?” Matt said with a laugh. Surely she was just messing with him.

 

“I will talk to you when you break up with Reagan.”

Matt stared at his twin to judge how serious she was. She definitely wasn't  joking.

“Micah…”

She simply stood and pushed Matt out the door, locking it behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely understand how serious drug abuse is but this is the direction I decided to take Tyler in. I hope it doesn't upset anyone. My brother actually use to abuse drugs so I get how it can effect families. Thankfully he has now been clean for four years, is married, and has two little girls. I also get that not every story is like that.  
> 


	14. Talk to Me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Y'all are appreciated!  
> Also, I already started the next chapter so it should be posted soon.

Micah didn’t even bother to eat breakfast the next morning. She was still pissed at her family and seeing them would only make it worse. She got dressed, grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. Thankfully, the school worked on an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ mind set so she didn’t get suspended. Everything depended on the results of the drug test.

She stopped when she saw her soccer bag but she guessed that she wasn’t going to need it.

_Ugh Reagan._

She knew she should grab a protein bar for when she got hungry but when she heard her family talking in the kitchen, she realized it wasn’t worth it. The family wouldn’t have known that Micah had left if they didn’t hear the front door slam causing a picture frame to fall to the floor, breaking.

Ali shot Ashlyn a look, daring her to say something. She was also still mad about the night before. Once she was sure that her wife got the message she started to focus on her boys at the table.

“Parker, I’m picking you up after school and taking you to hockey practice, then I have to run some errands. After I’ll pick you up for your tennis practice, okay? Make sure you grab your racket. Matt will pick you up after tennis. Matt, you have tutoring this afternoon. Miss another one to hang out with that girl and I’ll take your keys and pick you up in a minivan, got it?”

They didn’t even own a minivan but he got the message. Especially after hearing his mom call his girlfriend, ‘that girl.’

“Yes ma’am.”’

Ashlyn then took a chance of irking her wife by saying, “Keep an eye on your sister at school alright?”

Ali rolled her eyes and continued eating.

“She said she won’t talk to me till I break up with Reagan. It’s stupid.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame her.” Ali stood and carried her plate to the kitchen.

-

“So Eli asked if I would stop by his dorm this morning.”

Matt was leaning against his locker watching Micah change her books for the next class. He decided to catch his twin up on his morning stop and as expected, she didn’t respond. He continued anyway.

“He punch me in the stomach.”

Micah couldn’t help but smile. She knew Eli would have her back. Matt wasn’t amused.

“Freaken talk to me!”

“Did you break up with Reagan?”

“No, but I…” He didn’t get a chance to finish because she slammed her locker signaling that she had all the information that she needed. Before he got a chance to try again, Micah’s coach joined the two in the hall.

“Good morning Harris’s. Micah, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Matt took that as his cue to leave.

“My chemistry class is about to start, sir.”

Honestly, she was still kind of mad at him too. She figured he would have given her the benefit of the doubt. She also expected that from her parent’s too, so what did she know?

“I’ll write you a note.”

Micah nodded her head and followed Coach Harper to his office.

“The lab where we sent your test is backed up so we won’t hear anything until tomorrow.”

Micah deflated. There was a part of her that hoped she would get to play in the game tonight. She felt like she was letting her team down again. She had to fight back tears, not wanting to look weak in front of the person who saw her fit to be put in charge. She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up.

“Micah, I fully believe that the test will come back negative.”

Coach Harper was on of the few adults at the school that saw the best in Micah. Every other teacher just saw her, and Matt, as nothing but a trouble maker. It was good to know that he was still there for her.

“Then why did I have to get tested in the first place?”

“Because when Reagan approached me with…” he paused to make air quotes, “good intention…”

Micah smiled at him. At least someone understood. Coach Harper continued,

“She said it in front of Principal Keeler.” Now Micah understood.

“My #1 fan.”

The coach laughed and then got to the point of their meeting.

“What I wanted to talk to you about is the game tonight.”

Once again Micah slumped at the mention of it but her coach kept talking.

“Keeler said that you couldn’t play until the results came back but she didn’t say anything about warming up and dressing out for the game. Look, I know that it’s not what you want but it’s something right?”

No, it wasn’t great news, but Coach Harper was right, it was something. At least she could be present to support her team. Micah mustered up all the excitement she could and offered a smile.

“Thanks Coach.”

“That smile is fake but I’ll take it.” He chuckled a little at his joke while making some scribbles on a piece of paper. He then handed the note to Micah.

“Here. Now go learn some biology.”

“Chemistry.”

“Same thing.”

Micah shook her head and left the office. On the way to class something hit her. She left her soccer bag at home. Much to her disappointment, Ali didn’t answer her phone. She would have to call Ashlyn.

_Is this game even worth it?_

After an internal battle with herself, she swallowed her pride and dialed her Mama’s number.

The phone didn’t even get a chance to ring before she hung up.

_Nope. I’ll call Ava._

-

                “Sup Mic, heard you were a druggy now.”

                _Ava don’t even…_

                “Yeah, that wasn’t funny. Sorry, sorry. Wait aren’t you in school?”

                _Yes, princess. I need you to do me a favor. Bring me my soccer bag. It’s in the hall by the front   door._

 _“_ Why didn’t you call Mom?”

                _She didn’t answer and I’m not calling Mama. She probably wouldn’t bring it to me even with Coach saying that it’s cool._

“So you’re just not going to show up after school? That will make her happy.”

                _I texted Mom and let her know what’s up. She won’t care. Mama will._

“Makes sense.”

                _Av, I have to get to class. Can you please bring my bag?_

“Yeah, I can. Is after lunch ok? I can’t be late for work.”

                _That’s fine! Thanks so much! Please try to avoid Mama when you go to get it._

“Will do. But I better not hear about it when I show up for dinner tonight. Got to go Mic, I think I hear Kate throwing up. Morning sickness is a bitch.”

                _Gross. Gotta go. Thanks again!_

After hanging up the phone, Ava quickly got to her wife’s side, pulling back her hair. Micah was right. This was gross.

-

Matt was almost late to pick up Parker from tennis. After his tutoring he stopped to pick up Reagan so she could ride with him. He also figured this was a way to have Reagan over for dinner. The twins strongly believed in ‘it’s better to ask for forgiveness then permission.’ It was a risk he wanted to take.

The face Ali made when she saw the three walk in the house made it very aware that Matt had made a bad decision. Before she even got a chance to anything, Ava and Kate walked in. Ava saw Reagan and started laughing. This girl must be brave.

“Good thing Micah won’t be here, huh?”

The words of her oldest got Ashlyn’s attention.

“And why won’t Micah be here?”

Ali went back to cooking as she answered her wife in a nonchalant voice.

“She has a soccer game.”

Ashlyn already knew that. Ali didn’t answer anything.

“I know, but she is not allowed to be there.”

Once again, Ali kept talking like everything was casual.

“Yes she is. Coach Harper said that she could dress out to support her team.”

“Why would he do that?!” Ashlyn couldn’t understand why her daughter was allowed to do anything involving the team until she was cleared.

“Because he trust our daughter. Something you can’t do.”

Things were getting kind of awkward for the kids. The moms usually didn’t argue in front of them. They all really wanted to leave the room. All of them but Reagan. Who knew that she could mess with the whole family? Ashlyn was getting irritated.

“Well why did WE let her go?”

For this first time in the conversation, Ali looked her wife in the eyes.

“WE didn’t. I did.”

She waited to see if Ash would respond. She knew that the blonde wouldn’t say too much in front of the kids and their unwanted guest. After realizing that her wife wasn’t going to say anything, Ali smiled at her kids.

“Dinner time.”

-

After tip toeing around conversation, dinner was finished and everyone had gathered in the living room to watch a movie. The movie was interrupted when Micah walked into the house. She was surprisingly in a good mood. That was until she saw Reagan.

“Do you want her to be your daughter or something because she practically lives here!?”

“Awe, I love this…”

“No one was talking to you Satan. Don’t you have someone’s live to ruin or a cat to kick? Whatever it is you do in your free time.”

“Shut up Micah.” Matt figured that since his mothers weren’t saying anything, he would be the one to protect his girlfriend.

“Wait, wait!” Ava yelled. She walked over to Kate on the couch and covered her wife’s pregnant belly with her arms for protection.

“Ok, now you can go.” And she gestured for Micah to continue. She wasn’t aware of the silent treatment going on between the twins. She expected a fight. Micah just decided to change the subject and turned to Ali.

“The team beat PCR tonight. I suggested that they play Bridget as center mid and move Claire to right back. It actually ran pretty smooth.”

“Well I’m glad it worked out. Sorry you couldn’t play, baby.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Why did Reagan always want to talk? That was enough for Ali.

“Matt, I think it’s time to take Reagan home. We need some family time.”

Matt was irritated that his girlfriend was getting kicked out but decided not to fight it. He was just glad that she was able to stay for dinner. He was also confused as to why Ali was the one making her leave. In the beginning of their relationship, Ashlyn was the one who gave Reagan the cold shoulder. Ever since the drug drama, Ali has taken over that job.

The two stood and Reagan said her unwanted goodbyes. Before walking out the door she turned for one last comment.

“Hey, Ava and Parker. My dad has some personal investigator friends if you ever want to find your birth parents. Just let me know.” With that, she smiled and walked out the door, leaving the entire family frozen. Parker was the first one able to talk.

“I’m adopted?”


	15. Crossing a Dangerous Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapter in 12 hours? That doesn't happen often. Thanks for reading!

“I’m adopted?”

The family was still frozen. Reagan’s comment completely caught them off guard. What were they supposed to do?

“I’m…” Matt didn’t even finish. He felt awful but he didn’t know what to say. He just closed the door, leaving the rest of the family to deal with the mess his girlfriend just created.

The family stayed quiet hoping this wasn’t really happening. The moms thought they had more time. The longer the family stayed silent, the more concerned and upset the youngest Harris got.

“Mom?!”

Ali was starting to tear up. She really didn’t want to hurt her little boy.

“Mama?! Am I?!”

“Buddy…”

“Yes or no?!”

Parker wanted a straight forward answer and he wanted it now. Ashlyn took a deep breath and gave her son the answer that he needed.

“Yeah.”

Ash wanted to give him a minute for the information to set in. In her mind, she was getting words about love and acceptance ready. She wanted to make sure that Parker knew that he was 100% part of the family. Everyone watched as he processed the new information. Ashlyn was ready to deliver her speech but “Parker, listen…” was all she got out before the boy shot up the stairs to his room.

That was it for Ali. She broke down into tears. Ashlyn joined her wife on the couch and wrapped her in a hug. She wasn’t sure how Ali would react since they had been arguing lately. She was relieved when Ali leaned into her embrace. They didn’t know what to do in a situation like this.

There were some major difference between Ava and Parker’s adoptions. They were both adopted as babies but that was all they had in common. The moms never really had the adoption talk with Ava. It was more obvious with her because her birth parents are Dominican. She has a darker skin complexion than the rest of the family. Another separation between her and Parker was her biological parent’s story. They were strangers. The only thing the Harris’s knew about them was their ethnicity, names, and that her birth mom was a homeless teenager who struggled with drugs and alcohol.

Parker looked a lot like Ali and for good reason. His birth parents are Ali’s cousins. They were a young couple who loved adventure and travel and a baby was only going to slow them down. Only a couple weeks after Parker was born they asked Ali and Ashlyn to babysit for a couple of hours. They didn’t return for three days. This kind of behavior repeated for almost a year before they finally signed over parental rights to the Harris’s. The next day they moved to travel around Europe so Parker has never met them.

How do you explain that to a 10 year old?

Kate tapped her wife’s leg to get her attention.

“Are you okay?”

She was worried that was Ava going to feel upset herself. They didn’t talk about her adoption much. It took Ava a to second to register what Kate was saying.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I’ve come to peace with it.”

Then Kate got an idea.

“Why don’t you go talk to him? You might know what to say.”

Ava honestly hadn’t thought about it. “I guess that makes sense. Yeah, okay. Hey Mom? Mama? Is it okay if I talk to him? I kind of get what he is going through.”

Ali wiped her eyes and thought about her oldest daughter’s words.

“Umm. I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Ashlyn took a deep breath and agreed with her wife. “Call us if you need anything.”

Ava stood and started walking towards her youngest brother’s room. She was stopped when she heard her mom’s voice again.

“Make sure he knows we love him.”

That was the most important thing.

-

Matt didn’t say a word the entire drive to Reagan’s house. He was worried about what was going on at home. He actually forgot that Reagan was in the car even though she kept talking. She was getting irritated. When he pulled into her driveway she wanted an explanation.

“Why are you ignoring me Matthew Grey?!”

“Why would you do that?”

“What? Say your middle name? People do that all the time.”

“No Reagan. Tell Parker that he was adopted.”

She knew what he was talking about. She just was hoping that he would ignore it because she was hot and his girlfriend. She didn’t understand that when it comes down to it, family comes first for the Harris’s.

“I’m sorry Matt. I thought that he knew.”

“Bull crap.”

Was he really getting an attitude with her right now? He’s never done that.

“Excuse me?”

“We talked about when we met Reagan! You even brought it back up yesterday!”

“I forgot.”

Matt stopped talking again. He just waited for Reagan to get out of his car so he could go home. Reagan took a deep breath and leaned over expecting Matt to give her a goodnight kiss. After a second he caved and gave her a kiss on the cheek. That wasn’t good enough for her.

“Whatever. Goodnight Matt.”

She climbed out of the car and slammed the door. She then leaned into the open window.

“I need you to figure this out. It’s not my fault that your family likes to over react and you know it. I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow and then I need you to take me to the mall. Bye.”

Once she was gone Matt slammed his fist into the steering wheel before putting his car into drive and heading the long way home.

-

“Hey Park.”

Ava knocked lightly on his door. He didn’t answer. She wasn’t really sure what to do. She decided to just knock again.

“It’s Ava. Can I come in please?”

She listened as small footsteps approached and the door knob turned. Her heart broke when she was her little brother’s eyes were red and glossy. Parker walked back to his bed and Ava took that as an invitation to come in.

“Can I sit with you?”

Parker let out a small, “sure” and slid over so his sister could join him. Now that she was up here, Ava realized that she didn’t really know what to do. Before she had a chance to come up with anything, Parker spoke.

“Did everyone know?”

“Uh. Yeah.” She decided on the way up there that she wasn’t going to lie to him. That was the last thing he needed.

“Why didn’t they tell me I wasn’t part of the family?”

This took Ava back.

“Parker you are definitely part of this family! If anything you’re probably the favorite.” Ava thought joking would help but her brother just sat there. She had to come up with a way to prove it to him.

“When have you ever felt like you didn’t belong here?” Parker just shrugged.

“Haven’t we always felt like the annoying siblings that liked to pick on you?” She took another shot at the joking method and once again failed.

“When have you ever felt like Mom and Mama didn’t love you with everything they have?”

Parker shook his head. He knew that they have always been there for him.

“They love you more than you could possibly know, bud. We all do!”

“Why would they want to adopt me?”

“Why wouldn’t they want to?!?! You’re awesome, man! You complete this family. You’re more patient than me. Nicer than Tyler. Calmer than Eli. Better behaved than the twins! You’re the whole package!”

Ava finally got a smile out of him. That was a relief. She wrapped him in a hug before giving him some last words of wisdom and letting their moms take over.

“Don’t ever think that you aren’t wanted here. If you think about, adoption makes us more special. Our moms got to choose us. They thought that we were so great that they needed us in their family. They were just stuck with the other kids!” That got a laugh. She figured her work here was done. Kissing him on the head, she stood and walked to the door. When she opened it, Ali and Ashlyn took quick steps back trying to hide the fact that they were ease dropping.

“You two are too old for this.”

Ava was making jokes. That was a good sign to the mothers. Ava could tell how anxious they were.

“He seems ok. I’m sure that he could use some extra mom love though. Don’t worry, Kate and I will let ourselves out.” Both moms hugged their oldest goodnight and thanked her for helping. Once they were gone Ali and Ashlyn joined their baby in his bed. They were determined to show Parker just how loved he was. He was just as much a Harris as any of the kids.

-

Once again, Micah woke up pissed. This time it was for a different reason. She changed, grabbed both of her bags, and left the house. She wanted to get there early.

She walked to her locker and kept an eye on the clock. When the time was right she headed straight for her homeroom.

Micah quickly looked around and was relieved that the teacher wasn’t it in the room yet. It was just her, three students in the corner, and Reagan. She was sitting in her normal seat at the front of the class, looking through her phone, unaware of Micah’s presence. Micah walked right up to her, grabbed the legs of her chair and lifted straight up, dropping Reagan hard to the floor. She didn’t even give the girl a chance to recover before she bent down, taking a handful of her shirt and pulling Reagan close to her face. She needed her to look in her eyes when she said this.

“Look here you little bitchy snake of the devil. You are crossing a very dangerous line. Messing with me and my future career is one thing but you WILL NOT bring my family into this. I don’t care how blind Matt is. I know who you really are. You are not welcome back to my house, is that clear? And if you ever think about talking to my little brother again I will lay your flat ass out. Got it?!”

Reagan didn’t say anything. She was completely taken off guard and honestly scared. She was trying to formulate words when they heard someone clearing her throat. Both girls looked up and saw Principal Keeler standing in the door way.

“Ms. Harris?”

Thankfully Micah was good at being put on the spot.

“Morning Mrs. Keeler. Reagan here fell out of her seat and I was trying to help her up.”

Micah stood up and offered a hand to Reagan. Keeler wasn’t convinced.

“Is that true Ms. Greenfield?”

Reagan looked at the hand extended in front of her, thinking about the threat she just heard. She decided to choose the safer answer.

“Yes. She was trying to help me.”

Principal Keeler looked suspicious but decided to just go with it. “Micah can I see you in my office? Your test results are back.”

“Yes ma’am”

Reagan took the hand that Micah offered her while their principal turned to leave. Once she was out of sight Micah released her grip on Reagan letting her fall back to the ground.

-

“A lot of memories here, huh?”

Micah just looked at her laughing coach. He really did think that he was funny.

“You would think that you would find your trouble making players less amusing Hank.”

Principal Keeler was clearly Coach Harper’s number one fan too.

“Come on Janice… I mean Mrs. Keeler. I was just making a joke.”

“Do you know what’s not a joke? Drugs.” This was directed a Micah who gladly responded.

“I know that Janice…I mean Mrs. Keeler.”

Coach Harper had to stifle a laugh. He tried to cover it with a cough, “Shape up Harris.”

“Yes sir.”

Keeler just stared at the two. Of course she would show him more respect. She knew that she needed to get to the point if she was going to get them out of her office.

“Anyway, your results are back from your drug test.” The principal took her time opening the envelope sent from the lab, trying to make a big scene.

“Do you want me to read it?”

“Go for it.” Micah answered with a smile. She knew how much joy this was bringing the woman on the other side of the desk.

Keeler pull out the paper and read it over. She almost looked disappointed when she said, “It’s negative.”

Micah and Coach Harper just sat there, unfazed by the new information.

“Are either of you going to say anything?”

“What are we supposed to say? We already knew it was going to be negative.”

Micah was glad that her coach was so confident in her. “Yeah. What he said.”

Harper clapped his hand on her back. “Glad to have my captain back.”

“Micah go to class.” Keeler was over the two sitting in her office. Micah stood to leave but stopped before leaving.

“Will you call my moms and tell them the results? Both of them?”

Once she got a nod from her principal, she headed to class. She knew her coach would make sure that she made the calls. Finally, things were getting back to normal.

-

Matt sat at the lunch table waiting for Reagan to meet him.

_She’s always late._

Finally she showed up and took her proper seat next to her boyfriend. She was ready to snitch on his twin.

“You’re sister tried to kill me today!”

Matt didn’t care. “Yeah she does that. So we need to talk.”

“Oh yeah. I changed my mind. I would rather go to the mall tomorrow so don’t worry about it.”

She kissed him on the cheek and started picking at her salad. She figured Matt would just let it go. She figured wrong.

“You told Micah’s coach that she was on drugs.”

“Oh my gosh. Are we still on that? Geez why are you Harris’s so sensitive about that?!”

“You know why! I told you about Tyler.”

“What do you want me to say? I forgot.”

“Just like you forgot that Parker didn’t know he was adopted.”

“Yep.”

Matt stared at the girl in front of him trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She got annoyed at his stares.

“Look. He needed to know.”

That was it. Matt was done. “That’s not your decision to make, Reagan!! You broke his heart and put my moms on the spot!”

“Don’t act like your family was perfect before you started dating me! They are just as messed up now as they were before!”

“My family is none of your business!!!”

People were starting to watch the couple causing a scene. Reagan looked around laughing before calmingly saying, “Matt I’m your girlfriend. It is my business.”

Matt took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “I’m done.”

Once again Reagan laughed. “No you’re not.”

“I’m not kidding. You are a destructive, controlling, manipulative bitch and I’m done.”

Reagan’s mouth dropped. No one had ever dumped her before. Especially not in front of a packed cafeteria.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, bro.”

Matt looked back and smiled at his twin.

“Hey I’m cleared to play.”

“Duh.”

The two exchanged a handshake and walked away talking like nothing happened. Reagan was left sitting there shocked and embarrassed.


	16. Frozen Peas and Baby Names

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of y'all asked about Ali talking to Reagan so I worked that in!  
> Also, how would y'all feel about a flashback chapter? Maybe about when the kids were younger?  
> Thanks for reading!

“Matt, your girlfriend is outside.”

Ava and Kate had just arrived at the Harris house for dinner and noticed Reagan sitting in her car out front.

Micah was quick to respond, “I got this.”

-

Reagan showed up to her ex’s house hoping to ‘fix things’ with her and Matt. It’s not that she loved him so much that she couldn’t be without him, she just hated being dumped. She needed the last word. Plus, dating Matt gave her almost constant access to messing with Micah. And it didn’t hurt that the Harris’s were considered famous.

She had been sitting in her car trying to figure out her next move when she saw Ava and Kate pull up. She knew that they saw her so there was no point in trying to sneak away.

Reagan got out of her car and headed to the front door. Before she could even make it halfway across the yard Micah was coming out the door, quickly walking toward her.

“Micah, I need to talk to Matt about…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish because Micah drew back and with all her weight, punched Reagan straight in the eye. Reagan fell to the ground holding her face.

“Nope.” And with that Micah walked back in the house.

-

Ali and Ashlyn were standing at the window in the dining room watching the scene outside happen.

“We should probably do something.”

“You’re probably right.”

Neither one made any effort to move. The two taught their kids at a young age that violence was only a last resort to defend themselves. They knew that should be mad at Micah but at the same time, Reagan deserved it.

When they saw that Micah was back inside and Reagan was now considered safe, Ali turned to her wife.

“You know you need to apologize to her right?”

“Who? Reagan?”

“What? No. Micah.”

Ashlyn tried to shrug it off. “She’s fine. Now that she can play soccer again I’m sure she hasn’t even thought about it.”

“Ashlyn you told her that she was a disappointment.”

“Technically…she said that.”

Ali shot her wife a look. She was not amused. “You agreed! And you bluntly told her that she didn’t have your trust.”

The blonde dropped her head. “I didn’t mean it.”

Ali softened towards her wife and placed her arms around her waist. “Babe, I know you didn’t. And she probably knows it too. But you hurt her.”

She felt her wife nod against her shoulder.

“Ash, you have to be the bigger person here. She needs you.”

Ashlyn took a deep breath knowing that her wife was right. She glanced out the window and laughed.

“What?”

“Reagan is still sitting in the front yard.”

Ali looked for herself then patted her wife’s shoulder.

“In the words of our daughter, ‘I got this.’”

-

Ali walked towards the teenager sitting in the grass and threw her a bag of frozen peas. Reagan looked up shyly to see who was standing above her. Her face was already swelling and starting to turn colors. There was even a small cut right under her eye. When she saw it was Ali she felt relieved. Maybe she could use her ‘angel voice’ and make this work in her favor.

“Thank you.” She grabbed the bag and slowly moved it to her eye, wincing extra hard for show.

“Why are you still here?” Ali said with a hint of annoyance.

“My vision is still a little blurry.” She acted like she was going to start crying.

“Yeah, my baby girl has a good swing.”

Reagan started to realize she might not get the sympathy she was hoping for. She thought she would try one more time.

“It’s not the first time that Micah has hit me. It tends to come out of now where. I never expect it.”

Ali gave a small smile and squatted down to be face to face with the teenager.

“Oh honey. I think we all knew that this,” She gestured to bruised girl sitting in front of her, “was going to happen. You should have expected it.”

Reagan tried not to show how shocked she was. Ali tapped her knee and stood back up.

“It was just a matter of time. Take as long as you need and get home safe. Then it might be a good idea to say there.” Ali turned and headed in the house leaving the girl on the ground.

When she opened the door she was met by her wife. “Al, were you just mean to a 16 year old girl?”

“I do believe that I just gave away a perfectly good bag of peas to that home wrecker.”

Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “Honey, do you know the definition of a ‘home wrecker’?”

“Shut up and help me set the table for dinner.”

“Yes my queen.”

-

“So, baby names?!”

Ali couldn’t hold back a giant smile as she sat with her family at the dinner table.

“Mom, we don’t even know what gender the baby is yet, why would we have a name?”

“Just pick a boy and a girl name.” Eli offered with a mouth full of food. Ali ignored her son and continued to pester her daughter. She was way too excited for her grandchild.

“We can help you choose! Do you have a letter in mind?”

“Letter?” Kate asked her mother-in-law confused. Ashlyn just shook her head.

“Yeah, you know how sometimes people name their kids using the same letter?” Ali tried to explain.

“Ew, Mom no.” Matt said.

“Seriously, Mom that’s basic.” Micah added.

Eli pointed to them with his fork. “Coming from the twins who both have ‘M’ names.”

Ashlyn didn’t even try to hide her laugh. “That would be all your mother. If it wasn’t for me, all of your names would start with ‘A’”

“I thought it would be cute!” Ali tried to defend herself. “Just imagine if you were named Ava, Adam, Austin, Aaron, Annie, and Ayden.”

All the kids looked at her as if she had two heads. Ava was the first one that could think of something to say.

“Mom... did you make all of those up on the spot?

“Oh, no. Those were the names she had picked out for you guys.” Ashlyn loved giving her wife a hard time.

“I thought it was cute!” Ali repeated.

“Yeah, maybe if we were the Duggers!” Micah said giving her mom a disgusted look.

“Ugh. That’s what your Mama said.”

Ashlyn turned to her youngest daughter smiling, planning on giving her a fist bump. Micah didn’t even look in Ashlyn’s direction.

Then something clicked with Eli, “How did you know you guys were going to have four boys and two girls?”

“I didn’t.”

Now Ava was starting to catch on, “Then how did you know what ‘A’ names to have ready?”

Ali knew what was happening but she went ahead and answered. ‘I…I just made them up as you guys came along.”

“So let me get this straight. Even after having Tyler, which clearly isn’t an ‘A’ name, you continued to come up with new ones?”

“I thought it was cute!” Ali once again emphasized. She was over hearing crap. “Let’s get back to the unnamed baby please.”

“Kate and I want to wait until we find out the gender to name it.”

Ali kept looking at her with big pleading eyes. Ava caved.

“But we will listen to your suggestions when the time comes.”

The family continued all the baby talk but Ashlyn was too busy thinking to listen to anything they were saying. She guessed she really did need to apologize.

-

Dinner ended when the smell of Ali’s pumpkin pie made Kate run to the bathroom. Everyone helped clean up and went their separate ways for the night. Ashlyn decided that this time was as good as any and went to the back yard.

Micah was taking shots on one of the goals when her Mama walked up.

“You know PK practice helps more if you have a goalkeeper to challenge you.”

“Yep.” Was all Micah had to say as she lined up another shot.

“Well. You do know that I use to be pretty decent at that type of thing, right?” Maybe a joke would get her mini me talking.

“I figured you wouldn’t want me kicking a ball at you since you don’t trust me. Maybe I could just share my drugs with you instead.”

“Ok, ok, I get it.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, kid, I do. I was way out of line the other day. I was just mad and scared.”

“Scared?” Micah didn’t think her big, tattooed, badass of a mom would ever really get scared.

“Of course I was scared. As much as your mom and I tried to protect you guys when everything with Tyler happened, we know that you all were effected. You saw how bad he got.”

Micah moved the ball back and forth between her feet not wanting to make eye contact with Ashlyn. She did remember how hard it was when Tyler was still home and abusing drugs. Now that she was older she understood how much harder it must have been for her parents.

“Micah when Reagan said that you were taking drugs that feeling of fear hit me hard. Then I got mad at myself.”

That got the younger blonde’s attention.

“There had to be something wrong with me to have two children turn to such a dangerous substance. I wanted to know what I did to drive my kids to that!”

“I guess I understand that.” Micah quietly admitted. Ashlyn knew she needed to keep going.

“You’re not a disappointment.”

“Yes I am.”

“Micah Grace, no you’re not!”

“You admitted to it! And I get it. I get why you don’t trust me. I just mess things up!”

“Stop kicking the ball and look at me.” It wasn’t harsh but Micah knew that she was serious.

“You. Are. Not. A. Disappointment. You are one of the greatest blessings in my life. I know that you don’t always make the best decisions but that doesn’t define you! You don’t like to show it but you have one of the biggest, most caring hearts I’ve ever seen. You work hard to make sure that you’re the best but you stay humble and grounded. Those are the things that define you. And I do trust you. You make it hard at time but I do. Sometimes I let feelings get in the way and talk without thinking but I love you, kid. I really hope that you never question that.”

Micah nodded and started to kick at the ball again. It might have been a small action but Ashlyn knew that it meant that she understood. She was starting to leave and give her daughter sometime to think it over when she heard Micah speak up.

“And I look good.”

Ashlyn turned back around and saw her teenager smiling. “What was that?”

“You forgot to say that I look good. That defines me too.”

Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “Duh, you look like me.” And offered her daughter their signature fist bump.

“So are you going to get in goal so I can score on your old…” She quickly corrected what she planned on saying,”…butt.”

Ashlyn’s smile dropped. “We had such a good thing going.”

Micah just laughed and started juggling the ball at her feet.

“But yes let me go change.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone doesn't know who the Duggers are they are a family with 19 kids who all has J names.


	17. So Glad You're Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a flashback chapter! Thanks for reading!

-FLASHBACK- 10 YEARS EARLIER

“Eli, buddy, you have to sit still and finish your homework.”

Ali was trying to handle her to-do list while keeping an eye on the kids who, for the most part, had finished their work and were running around playing. She was trying to unload the dishwasher and block out her daughter’s blaring music, when she noticed her 9 year old trying to sneak away from the dinner table.

“Eli. Sit. You’re not done.” Her patience was running thin. She walked to the end of the stairs and yelled up at Ava. “TURN IT DOWN.”

“I neeeeddd hhhheeeelllpppp.” Eli whined.

Ali put up the plate she was unloading and went to take a look at her son’s homework. Before she got around the table she saw her oldest son in the back yard and panicked.

She ran out the door screaming, “TYLER RHETT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!”

Tyler had climbed to the top of the tree and looked like he was about to try and hang onto the electrical wires running from the house. He’s mom’s voice scared him so bad that he jumped and almost fell to the ground. Ali almost had a heart attack.

“Get down!”

Ali watched to make sure that he got down properly before getting eye to eye with him.

“Don’t you EVER touch those wires, do you hear me?!”

“Yes, ma’am.” And he ran off like nothing happened. Ali took a deep breath and headed back inside. She was so ready for Ashlyn to get home from her parent’s house. It had been the longest week of her life.

She opened the door to the sound of her oldest daughter’s music still playing ridiculously loud.

“AVA! TURN. IT. DOWN.” She hollered as she went back to unloading the dishwasher. Now Eli was getting impatient.

“Mooomm. I still neeeedd heeeelllpp.”

“I’m sorry, E. I’m coming.” She leaned over the table and picked up Eli’s math homework. As she looked at the first problem there was a loud, crashing noise coming from the living room followed two little voices saying,

“I didn’t do it!”

Eli laughed at looked at his mom. “I think the twins broke something.”

“I think you’re right but they better hope that you’re wrong.”

Sure enough, when Ali walked in the living room she saw that their once functional TV was now on the floor and the screen was busted out. She looked up in time to see the culprits trying to flee.

“Don’t even think about it.”

The 6 year old froze in their tracks. Maybe if they didn’t move their mom wouldn’t see them. No such luck.

“Come here.” Ali said as she pointed to the spot in front of her. As they approached she saw they both holding something behind their backs.

“What are you two hiding?”

Neither answered.

“Do NOT make me ask again.”

Slowly they revealed that Micah had a soccer ball and Matt was holding his T-Ball bat.

Ali was at wits end. “How many times have I told you not to play soccer in the house?!”

Micah was quick to defend herself. “We were playing Base Soccer! I kick the ball up and Matt hits it for a homerun!”

“Yeah, Mommy that’s not soccer!” Matt added.

Ali closed her eyes and counted to 10. She kept reminding herself that they were just kids. They were just kids. They were just kids.

She tried to compose herself. “Sports. Are not. For inside.” She couldn’t even count how many times she has repeated that since having children.

“Sit on the couch and don’t move until I say you can.”

The twins started to protest.

“Or you can call Mama right now and tell her what happened.”

That got them quiet. They took their seats on the couch as Ali grabbed the broom from the closet to clean up the mess. Usually, she would have made them clean it up but since it was a lot of glass she just decided to take care of it herself. Eli started screaming from the kitchen.

“MMOOOOOMMM! HEEELLLPPP MEEE!”

“JUST A MINUTE, SON!” Then she turned toward the stairs to address the noise still coming from above. “AVA FAITH THIS IS THE LAST TIME I ASK YOU TO TURN IT DOWN! IF HAVE TO TELL YOU AGAIN I’M SENDING THE TWINS UP TO TAKE CARE OF IT!!” The house instantly got quieter.

Until, “MOOOMMM!”

“ELI, I SAID I’LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!”

Ali continued to pick up the glass and prayed that her wife would be home soon.

-

After cleaning up the pieces of broken TV, helping Eli with his homework, getting Tyler off of the top of the car, and releasing the twins from their couch prison, promising that their Mama would handle them when she got home, Ali was finally able to finish unloading the dishwasher. Then it hit her, she hasn’t even started dinner and Ashlyn would be home any minute. She grabbed a frozen lasagna and threw it in the oven. She needed something simple. She started cutting up lettuce to make a salad when Ava came running down stairs in a panic.

“Mom, did you wash my cheer skirt?!”

“Yes, baby, it’s in the laundry room.”

“Did you dry it?!”

“Yes Av, it’s all ready for you to take tomorrow.”

Ava was almost in tears. “Mom you ruined it! You weren’t supposed to dry it! It’s probably super shrunk now and it won’t fit right and everyone will make fun of me!!” Her mom had just ruined her pre-teen life.

Ali set down the knife to give her distraught daughter her attention. “I dried it on low heat. It was a little big for you to begin with. I’m sure it will fit fine.”

“No it won’t! I can’t go to practice like that!”

“Ava. Calm down. Go get it out of the laundry room and try it on. If for some reason it doesn’t fit then I’ll get you another one before practice tomorrow. I promise you the world is not over.”

Ava huffed at her mom and stomped to grab her uniform to take back to her room. On the way to the stairs Ali heard her say,

“Mom dried my skirt!”

She felt relieved when she heard “That’s awesome Av!” in her wife’s voice.

Ava screamed at her Mama’s reaction and ran up the stairs.

“What did I say?”

Ali ran out of the kitchen to find Ashlyn and saw her setting her bags down by door. She caught her off guard when she jumped into her arms. Ash laughed, unaware of how hard of a week her wife had.

“Hey, baby, I missed you too but the kids are up so you need to turn it down.”

Ali quickly jumped down a shot her wife a look. Now Ashlyn understood. She pulled Ali into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. Ali started to relax in her wife’s embrace.

“I’m so glad you’re back. It’s so hard when you’re not here.”

“Oh, come on Al. I’m sure you managed without me.”

Ali leaned back so that her wife could see the bags that had formed under her eyes. Ashlyn laughed and pulled her even closer.

“Where are the kids?”

The brunette shrugged, “I’m honestly not sure they’re all still alive.”

“Well we have five so I guess it’s okay if a couple are gone.” Ashlyn thought a joke would help. All it did was remind Ali of something.

“James and Carrie are dropping off Parker later tonight.”

Ashlyn let out a long sigh. “How long do we have him this time?”

“They didn’t say.”

“You didn’t ask?”

“I’ve been a little busy here Ashlyn!” Ali didn’t mean to yell but she was still on edge. Thankfully, her wife understood.

“Ok, ok. I get it. Why don’t you go take a nap and I’ll handle everything else.”

Ali stepped back and rubbed her face trying to collect herself. “No. You’ve been traveling all day. I’m sure you need to rest. I’m fine.”

Ashlyn grabbed her wife’s shoulders so that she would look at her. “Ali. Go to sleep. I’m not asking.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, baby. Go.” And with that she closed the space between their lips to give her wife a proper greeting and a goodnight kiss in one. When she pulled back something caught her eye.

“Alex, what happened to the TV?”

Now it was Ali’s turn to laugh.

“Take a guess.” And she went to lay down leaving her wonderful wife in charge for a few hours.

-

Ashlyn took care of the kids for the night. It wasn’t easy getting them all fed, cleaned, and in bed by herself. She even managed to get Parker down in the process. Only a few hours alone and she was exhausted. Ali was always better at managing by herself than Ash was. She was just ready to join her wife in bed.

Ali started to wake when she felt the bed dip. She rolled over, gave her wife a long kiss and snuggled into the blonde’s side, thankful that she was home. She was almost back asleep when Ashlyn spoke up.

“What do you think about adopting Parker?”

Now Ali was awake. “What?”

“You know. Adopt him. Make it official.”

“Baby, Parker has parents.”

“Not really. He spends more time here than with them. They’ve even mention on several occasions that they never wanted kids.”

Ali stayed quiet and that worried Ashlyn. She thought that she might have hurt her wife’s feelings by insulting her cousins.

“I’m sorry if that sounded bad, Al. I just thought it might be a good thing. For us and him.”

Ali still didn’t speak.

“Ali?”

“I’m thinking.”

“About?”

“Adopting Parker.”

Ashlyn started to smile at the thought of making Parker an official Harris. “Really?”

“I mean, it’s not the first time that I’ve thought about it. And we would have to see if they would even be willing to sign over their rights first but yeah…I’m in if you are.”

“Even after the week you’ve had? You want to add to that chaos?”

Ali took a deep breath before answering. “I guess. But if this works out, it WILL be the last one!”

That was something Ashlyn could agree with. And like it was on que the two heard Parker screaming and the other kids complaining about being waken up.


	18. Nervous?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to move up the time line a little bit. I know that it seems like I talk about Micah a lot but she is just part of the story that I moved up. Hope you enjoy! You're appreciated.

“Micah…Micah…”

Ali’s father, Ken, had been trying to get his granddaughter’s attention for the past couple minutes but she kept her head down and eyes closed. He started snapping in her face.

“MICAH.”

Ashlyn walked past the two and saw what was happening. She reached over the couch and pulled out Micah’s headphones. Ken started laughing.

“Should have known.”

Micah turned to give her grandfather her full attention. Well, most of it. It was game day so to her, she only needed to focus on one thing. He was just glad to have eye contact.

“Nervous?”

“Not really. We’re playing Sampson and their best forward graduated last year and their midfield sucks. I’m not really worried about beating them. It’s just a matter of making sure we don’t get to comfortable with a lead and get lazy on the ball.”

He loved listening to her talk soccer. It reminded him of Ali. He was really proud of how hard she works. Micah finally had a weekend game that was also the perfect time for the whole family to come. Ken even got to drive in town to see it. Micah loved that her family was about supporting each other but having them all there made her a little anxious. Especially, now that she was captain. Ali reminded her to take an anxiety pill earlier but she decided against it because she wanted to use this feeling to push her. Beside, usually when she started playing that all went away.    

Once Micah seemed that she was done telling Ken her analysis of the competition, he was ready to clarify his question.

“I’m glad you’re confident Mic, but I meant are you nervous about the scouts coming? From the national U17 team?” He looked at Ashlyn and Ali for clarification. “That’s this game right?”

“WHAT?!” Micah’s eyes were huge and she quickly looked at her mothers for an answer. Ali just stood and walked out leaving Ashlyn to calm their teenager. Ken was starting to realize what was happening and tried to cover up his slip.

“I’m…I think I’m mistaken. This…this summer. I think that’s when they’re coming.” The grandfather was not a good liar.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?! I COULD HAVE BEEN PRACTINING MORE! I COULD HAVE RAN MORE DRILLS! TOOK MORE HEADERS! I ONLY RAN THREE MILES YESTERDAY! WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THAT FROM ME?!” Micah’s breathing was beginning to pick up.

Ash was running her hand through her hair trying to decide what to say without making things worse.

“Mic, we didn’t tell you because we didn’t want you to panic, much like you are doing right now.”

“I WONDER WHY?!”

“Look at me. You’re more than prepared. You’re going to play fine, kid.”

“FINE?!”

Thankfully Ali returned handing Micah a glass of water and her anxiety pill.

“Great, love. You’re going to play great.”

This time Micah was more than willing to take the medicine she was offered. She needed fresh air.

“I’m going for a walk.”

“Do you want one of us to go with you?” Ali was scared that she might be do something stupid but she didn’t want to push her either.

“No.” And she put her headphones back in heading out of the door.

Ken felt awful. “I’m so sorry! I thought she knew they were coming to watch her.”

Ashlyn explained. “She knew that they were coming but we didn’t want her to know when. She already puts enough pressure on herself and all she keeps talking about is how she needs prove herself. We didn’t want her to get worked up.”

“Is there something I can I do? I can go talk to her if you think that will help.”

“Dad, it’s okay. She just needs to distract herself. As long as she doesn’t let this get in her head she’ll be fine.”

-

“Matt will you get your sister? We need to leave.”

“She’s not up there.”

“She has headphones in, she can’t hear you if you just knocked.”

“Mama, the door is open. She’s not up there.”

“Ashlyn, I knew we should have told her! She would have had time to process it! What if her medicine didn’t work in time and she is on the side of the road having a panic attack?”

“Or she got freaked and ran.” Ali’s eyes went wide. Kate slapped her wife’s shoulder for making things worse.

“Al, breath. She wouldn’t miss this game after we made her miss her first opportunity this past summer. She probably just lost track of time. I’m sure she’ll be back any minute.”

“I don’t know how to explain it Ash, I just have this feeling that something bad is going to happen.”

“Alex, I’m sure you’re just nervous for her game. Not only is it an important one for her but it’s also the first one you’ve been able to go to this season. Everyone needs to act calm and normal. It’s just a game.”

The family nodded in understanding. Just then Micah walked in and pulled out one of her ear buds.

“Ready?”

“Hey Mic, will you do my homework when we get back?” Everyone looked at Matt confused. He tried to talk quietly so his sister wouldn’t hear him. “What? You said act normal.”

Micah didn’t answer his question. She just put her headphones back in and turned the music up, grabbing her soccer bag and heading out the door.

-

The team just finished warming up and were standing around waiting until they needed to line up. Micah was trying her best to focus on the game ahead but she couldn’t push out the idea that her future rode on how she played when she stepped on the pitch.

“You forgot this.”

She turned around to see Ashlyn holding out her Gatorade.

“Where are they?” Micah knew that her Mama didn’t walk down there just for a drink. She wanted to check up on her.

“Mic, I’m not telling you.”

“You know that if I looked in the crowed I could probably find them.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen you looking up there. Just try not to think about it.”

Ashlyn noticed the younger blonde shifting her weight back and forth between her legs. She needed to get her distracted.

“What’s your plan?”

“Like you said, I’m going to try not to think about it.”

“No. You’re game plan. You’ve watched the footage and talked to Coach Harper. What are you going to tell the team?”

“Um. We are going to play high, add pressure early and take advantage of the holes they leave open in midfield.”

She stopped fidgeting and was finally focusing on the game that was about to start. The ref blew his whistle and Ashlyn knew that she needed to get back to the stands.

“If you start to freak out look for me and you’re mom. We all know that you’re going to kill. Focus on what you can handle now which is the next 90 minutes. Love ya, Mic.”

Ashlyn headed back to her seat next to her wife and family. They were all wearing Crusader shirts with the number 11 on the back. Micah thought it was kind of embarrassing. She loved sharing her number with her Mom but her family tended to get wrapped up in the game. Every time she heard one of her moms yell she knew that everyone around was looking at her number on their back. They knew that she belonged to those crazy woman. At the moment, one of these crazy women was panicking.

“Ash, I still have this feeling that something is going to happen.”

“Baby, everything is going to be fine. There is nothing that we can do but sit her and support our daughter.”

-

There was 20 minutes left in the second half and the Crusaders were up by 2. It took Micah a few minutes to get comfortable but once she started playing everything around her melted away. She still had the urge to push herself in the back of her head but it wasn’t as present as before.

Ali spent the whole game on the edge of her seat. She held her breath everytime Micah went up for a header or slide for a tackle. She tried to shake the nagging feeling that something could happen at any minute. Her dad kept trying to tell her that she was just worrying too much. Her kids even helped by coming up with all the past stories they could think of about time when Ali over reacted. It was fun for them. Not Ali.

Ashlyn tried to comfort her wife between screaming at the game. She didn’t know how to hold her tongue when she thought the refs were slacking. She just got done yelling that there should have been a corner kick when she noticed that Ali was screaming too. She took that as a positive sign that the brunette was starting to loosen up.

Micah saw a Sampson player making a break down the right line. She started sprinting towards her when the girl kicked the ball through the air towards a player in the top of the box. Micah turned and moved to make a diving header the same time the other girl raised her foot hard, trying to pop it up and over the rushing defender.

The family watched as the forward’s cleat connected with the side of Micah’s head. She fell to the ground and didn’t move.

-

It took seconds for Ali and Ashlyn to jump the fence in front of them. They tried to give Micah a second to get up but once her teammates motioned for the trainers they needed to get on the field. Thankfully, Ken was there to keep the other kids from moving. The last thing needed was a bunch of Harris’s getting in the way.

Ali slid to the ground next to her daughter and started pushing back Micah’s hair from her face.

“Hey Mic. Micah. Micah, baby, talk to me.”

Micah’s eye stayed closed and she didn’t move. Ashlyn needed answers from the trainers now.

“Is she breathing normal? Why isn’t she opening her eyes?”

The trainers were too busy going through procedures to focus on the blonde yelling at them. They just needed space to work.

“Ma’am I need you to back up.”

They were trying to listen to Micah’s heart beat and Ali was blocking them. Ashlyn was getting irritated by the lack of information she was hearing.

“What is going on with my daughter?!”

Once again, the medics didn’t answer. The bald man pulled open Micah’s eye lids, looking with a flash light. He shared a glance with his partner and reached for the radio attached to his shoulder.

“We need an ambulance to the Henderson Soccer Plex as quickly as possible.”

That sobered the mothers up. Ashlyn grabbed her wife’s shoulders and pulled her back into a hug. They needed to give the men space to work.

-

The moms agreed that Ali would ride in the ambulance with Micah and Ashlyn would drive and meet them at the hospital. Grandpa Ken took the other kids to Ava and Kate’s house where they would wait for updates.

Ashlyn pulled into the parking lot half- hazard and sprinted through the glass doors. She ran to the desk and tried to ask the lady behind the counter for a room number without sounding rude. The woman tried to quickly look through the computer files for Micah’s information.

“The doctors currently have your daughter running some test. You can join your wife in room 2214 to wait for her.”

She barely had a chance to hand Ashlyn her visitor sticker before the blonde was heading down the hall. She found her wife sitting in the corner of an empty room with her head in her hands. Ali looked up when she heard the door open. When she realized that it was her wife she broke. Ashlyn wrapped her up in a hug and let her get it all out. Once Ali’s breathing started to even out, Ashlyn knew that she had a chance to get something out of her wife.

“Has anything changed? What has the doctors said?”

Ali made a few sniffles and cleared her throat to talk.

“She woke up in the ambulance…”

Ashlyn cut her wife off excited about the new information.

“That’s great!”

Ali started to tear up again which concerned her wife.

“No Ash. She got really aggressive and they had to sedate her. The doctors said that is a sign of a brain injury!”

Ashlyn’s heart sank. Now she wanted a chance to break down but knew that she needed to be strong for the woman she was holding in arms. She needed to put on a brave face.

“What…what are they doing now?”

“They said they needed to run some test. They just kept saying a bunch of fancy medical terms that I couldn’t keep up with then sent me here. The only thing I understood was that they were going to give her a MRI.”

“Do you know when they are going to bring her back?”

“No.” Was all that Ali could choke out before she lost it again.

Ashlyn wanted to offer her wife some comfort but she wasn’t sure what to say, “It’ll be okay, baby. She’s strong.” Was all that she could come up with.

-

Almost 3 hours later, the doctors returned with Micah. The first things the moms noticed was that the girl was still unconscious. The hospital staff hooked her up to all the machines and exited the room except for one doctor. He was use to worried parents so he got down to business.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Tanner and I’ll be the one looking after Micah. We are still waiting for some test results but the scans show that she has a brain bleed. We are working to lower her blood pressure to get the swelling to go down which hopefully will stop the bleeding.”

“So she has a brain injury?” Ashlyn needed to clarify.

“It looks like it. We won’t know the extent of the injury until the swelling goes down and she wakes back up. We started winging her off her sedation about an hour ago but that doesn’t mean she is going to wake up. She hasn’t started to come around yet.”

“So the medicine isn’t why she’s still out of it?”

Ashlyn wanted answers but was scared to hear it.

“I would give it a couple more minutes to be sure but I would have to say no. She’s unconscious from the accident.”

“When…when do you think she is going wake up?”

“It’s hard to say.”

“Please guess.” Ali croaked from Ashlyn’s shoulder.

“It could be in five minutes, it could be in five days.”

Ali turned into her wife and started crying even harder. Ashlyn even let a few tears fall herself. Dr. Tanner left to give the women so privacy.

-

It was almost 11 pm and Micah was still unconscious. Ali was laying in the hospital bed next to Micah constantly checking on her breathing. Ashlyn was sitting in the chair beside the bed trying to answer everyone’s concerned calls and text. She was waiting for Eli to call that he had arrived with the moms bag for the night.

“Al, why don’t you try to sleep?”

“I’m fine.”

“Babe, you look tired.”

“So do you. I don’t want to miss her waking up.”

“The doctor said that it could be days.”

Ashlyn watched as Ali continued to watch their daughter’s chest fall and rise steadily. She saw that her brother was calling so she took a deep breath and addressed her wife before answering the phone.

“We can sleep in shifts. You can go first.”

She answered the call even though she knew that her wife wasn’t going with her plan. While she was talking to Chris she heard Ali’s phone start to ring.

“Alex, that’s probably Eli saying he’s at the hospital. Tell him I’ll be down there in a second.”

Ali reached back and answered the phone without even looking.

                “Hey, E.”

She shot straight up getting Ashlyn’s attention.

                “Tyler?”


	19. Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a few days! It was midterm time so I was busy.

“Why don’t you two Mamas go get some coffee? Fresh air will do some good.”

The couple was running on low and it was obvious.

“We’re fine, Angie.”

The nurse stopped what she was doing and looked at Ali and Ashlyn to let them know that it wasn’t really a question.

“Baby, you guys look a mess. I’m pretty sure neither one of you have slept or showered for that matter and it’s Tuesday. I’m going to be right here so either go grab some coffee to talk and I’ll continue to pretend that I didn’t hear you two arguing when I opened the door or I’m going to sit down and we’re going to play Dr. Phil. It’s your choice.”

Ali rolled her eyes and walked to the door knowing her wife would follow. They were used to the nurse talking to them like that. With 6 crazy kids, the Harris family were frequent visitors to the hospital. Nurse Angie had been there through it all. From births to dislocated shoulders. To the Harris’s, she was family and with that title she was also given the right to call them out.

Once the couple left, she continued to adjust Micah’s IV bag. After finishing her routine check, she sat down flipping through the channels. She knew better than to leave before they returned.

-

Ashlyn grabbed their coffees off the counter of the small stand on the lawn on the hospital. She headed to her wife who was sitting on the bench staring at the fountain in the middle of the small garden. It really was peaceful out here.

“Here, Al.”

Ali took the coffee and held it in her hands. They were still a little frozen from the temperature they kept the hospital so the heat of the drink felt good. Ashlyn stayed silent, sipping on her coffee, waiting for her wife to talk. The blonde had almost finished her drink before Ali took the first sip of her’s and started to speak.

“We can’t just tell him no.”

“It’s not a good time.”

Ashlyn was being short and it was driving Ali insane.

“We haven’t seen him in almost three years so please explain to me how we are supposed to tell our son that ‘it’s not a good time’?”

“Alex, two of our kids are currently staying with our oldest and her pregnant wife, Eli and your dad are running around with their heads chopped off trying to get everyone where they need to be, we’ve missed a National Team meeting, and we have a daughter who’s been a coma for three days and lord knows when she’ll wake up. It’s not a good time.”

Ali just took another sip of coffee and went back to staring at the fountain. She knew that her wife was right but when Tyler asked if it was okay for him to come home Friday she thought ‘yes’ was the only answer. Ashlyn noticed that Ali’s eyes were starting to glisten. They were both exhausted and their emotions were all over the place. She took a deep breathe a tried to get herself in check before approaching her wife again.

“Did he say why he was coming?”

Ali just shook her head ‘no.’

“Did he say how long he was staying? Like, is this just a visit or is he moving back home?”

“He didn’t say. And I know what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not thinking anything.”

“You’re thinking that he’s in trouble and needs more money.”

“He usually just calls for that.”

“Ashlyn, I can’t just tell him not to come. He’ll think that we have given up on him. My family never gave up when Kyle was dealing with addiction and look at him now. He probably wouldn’t be clean if it wasn’t for us supporting and believing in him.”

Ali was tired of putting up the front she had built against her wife. She leaned in Ashlyn’s side. Before Ashlyn could respond her phone started ringing. When she saw who it was her heart dropped.

                “Angie, is everything okay?”

-

“UGH!”

Kate was standing in the kitchen looking into an almost empty fridge. Ava heard the yelling and ran to her wife’s side ready to put out whatever fire had started. Kate’s hormones were everywhere. She could go from yelling about the microwave going off to crying because a squirrel was in the backyard. Ava didn’t know what to expect when came in the kitchen but she knew to act concerned.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

Kate left the refrigerator open and stormed to the pantry, throwing the door open. She motioned to the contents of both and waited for Ava to catch on. Her wife clearing needed some help catching up with her emotions.

“We’re running out of food!! How do they eat so much?!”

“Honey, they’re boys. That’s just what they do.”

That was the wrong answer. Parker and Matt had been staying with them while Ali and Ashlyn were staying at the hospital and Kate wasn’t her normal patient, loving self at the moment. It made for a hostile environment.

Kate slammed the doors closed and turned to her wife.

“Fine. Side with your brothers. But since you are so close to them all of a sudden YOU can cook!”

“Kate, Kate…Baby.”

She gave up when she heard her wife slam their bedroom door. Ava walked around the kitchen, looking for something to make.

“Dang. There really isn’t anything to eat here.”

She had to come up with something before her annoyed, hungry, pregnant wife showed back up. Finally she came up with a game plan.

“Hey Matt!” And she waited for her brother to join her.

“What’s wrong with Kate? She like, starred me down a minute ago.”

“Yeah, ignore her. Grab you keys and go pick up some pizzas. Oh, and take Parker with you.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Because, I’m going to rub my wife’s feet to try and get back in her good graces. If you would like to switch we can.”

“Come on Parker, let’s go!” He yelled down to the living room

“That’s what I thought.”

-

The moms sprinted through the hospital and saw Angie standing the doorway of their daughter’s room.

“What is it!?” “What’s wrong?!” The two yelled over each other.

The nurse couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I said it wasn’t something serious. Well, I guess it’s serious but not a bad serious.”

“You would think that as a nurse you would use actual medical terms.” It’s hard for Ashlyn to pass up on an opportunity to give someone a hard time. Ali, on the other hand, was over talking. She pushed past the two blocking the door and they followed her into the dark room. She saw her daughter still laying in her bed and was confused.

“Why did we need to hurry back?”

“And why are the lights off?” Ashlyn added and flipped the switch on. They were both looking at Angie for answers when they heard a croak behind them.

“Hurts.”

The mothers spun around and saw Micah had her face scrunched up in pain. Ali was instantly in tears as she bent down next to Micah and starting petting her hair.

“Micah, can you open your eyes for me?”

Micah made no effort to open them. Ashlyn sat on the opposite side of the bed and spoke gently.

“Have you tried to?” The doctor had constantly reminded them that there was no way to know the full extent of her brain injury until she woke up. They weren’t sure what all she could do.

Micah swallowed hard and tried to talk clearly.

“The lights hurt.”

Angie reached over and made the room dark again. “Now you can do it, Mic.”

Micah took a second then slowly cracked open her eyes. The nurse was satisfied with the results and addressed the family before exiting the room.

“I called Dr. Tanner when she first woke up. He should be here any minute. I also gave her some pain medicine that will hopefully start to kick in soon. If you need anything I’ll be at the desk.”

The two barely heard her. They were too focused on the girl’s voice that they were scared they would never hear again. Ashlyn held a cup of water to Micah and let her take a couple sips from the straw. Ali was still in tears as she tried to get more out of their daughter.

“How are you feeling, love?”

“I have a headache.”

Ashlyn let out a small laugh, “I wonder why, kid. You…” Ali shot her a look and she quickly stopped talking. The doctor had told them that it was important to see what Micah could remember herself, especially about the accident. The women hoped that Micah didn’t catch the exchange but before they could know for sure Dr. Tanner came in the room.

“Welcome back Micah.”

Ali wasn’t sure how she felt about that joke. The doctor just continued.

“I need to turn the light on for a couple of minutes, alright? It’s going to suck but I promise I’ll make it quick. Try and keep your eyes open for me. Ready? 1…2…3”

He flipped the switch and it took everything in Micah to not instantly clamp her eyes shut. She squinted hard at the immediate added pain and leaned over, puking off the side of her bed. Ali slid her feet out of the way and gently rubbed the younger blonde’s back until she was done. It took everything in Ashlyn to hold herself together. She hated being around throw up but the worry for her daughter far out weighed her fear of vomit.

Dr. Tanner noticed the worry on the parent’s faces. “We knew that she would have a concussion. Unfortunately this is expected.”

“She said that her head hurt.” Ashlyn decided to distract herself by filling in the doctor.

“Also, expected.”

Once Micah was done she laid her head back on the pillow and Dr. Tanner processed with his checkup while Ashlyn offered her more water.

“I need to formally introduce myself so you don’t have to refer to me as the awful man who turned the lights on. I’m Dr. Tanner. I’ve been the one looking over you and now that you’re awake I need to ask you a few things, okay? Can you follow my finger?” He lifted his pointer finger up and moved it from side to side watching Micah’s eyes. When he saw her succeed, he moved on.

“Micah, do you know who these two ladies are?”

It took Micah a second to clear her throat so that she could answer.

“My moms.”

“Good. Can you tell me their names?”

“Ali and Ashlyn Harris.”

The two mothers couldn’t help but smile. They feared the worse whenever someone brought up Micah’s possible memory loss. The fact that she remembered them was reason enough to celebrate.

“Yep. How many siblings do you have?”

“A lot.”

All the adults laughed causing the teenager to cringe in pain of the noise for a second. For the parent’s it was relief. She seemed like their Micah.

“Can you name them?”

“Ava, Tyler, Eli, Matt, and Parker.” Then she turned to look at her parents sitting beside her. “Please don’t have anymore.”

“We’re done, baby.” Ali said through happy tears.

“Promise.” Ashlyn added. Micah slowly raised her hand for a fist bump which almost got her Mama crying. Now that she had the family down, Tanner was ready to ask more detailed questions.

“Do you know why you are here? Do you remember what put you in the hospital?”

“I got hurt.”

“Yes, but do you remember how you got hurt?”

Micah furrowed her eye brows in concentration. She tried as hard as she could to think back but everything was blurry. She couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Do you remember the day you got hurt? Any of it?”

She was still coming up blank. She began to tear up in frustration and it broke her mothers’ heart to watch. After a moment, the doctor knew he needed to continue.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

Micah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The women began to panic until they saw a small smile spread across the teenager’s face.

“I punched Reagan in the face then ran soccer drills with Mama. I won.”

They laughed at her response, quietly this time, until they released just how much she didn’t remember. This time Dr. Tanner addressed the mothers.

“How long ago was that?”

Ashlyn answered, “Little over two weeks ago.”

Micah instantly looked discouraged.

He had heard everything needed for the time being and asked if he could speak to the mothers privately in the hall. He turned the light off and waiting for the two woman to join him. Before the door was even shut Ashlyn started questioning him, anxious for answers.

“How bad is she?”

“Honestly, better than I expected. She had a lot of swelling and bleeding when she first came in. The fact that she remembers specific details at all is impressive.”

“Will she ever remember that gap she is missing?”

“More than likely. It’s just going to taking time. The closer to the incident, the harder it’s going to be. She might not ever remember exactly what happened but things should begin to clear up, eventually.”

“So, where do we go from here?” Ali was ready to hear what she needed to do and get back to her daughter.

“I’m going to run a couple of test. Make sure everything is still working the way it should. Other than that we just need to be patient and supportive. The only thing you can tell her is that her accident was soccer related. No more details than that. It’s going to be hard but it’s still important that she regains her memory on her own. She’s probably going to struggle with that as well as retaining new information and completely some tasks. It will make her more frustrated than usual and she will wear out easier. She has a long road ahead but I’m very optimistic that she will get back to 100% or close to it.”

The mothers nodded in understanding. They weren’t completely sure what to expect but they were going to be by their daughter’s side through it all.

“I should be back up here shortly to get the test started. If everything goes as planned, you all should be out of here by Thursday, at the latest.”

He walked over to ask Angie if she could get someone to clean up Micah’s puke then they walked down the hall in opposite directions leaving Ali and Ashlyn alone. They took a second to soak in the, mostly, positive news and hugged each other.

“She’s going to be okay, Ash.”

“He can come.”

Ali leaned back to look at her wife. Maybe this emotional rollercoaster they had been on lately had messed with the blonde’s head.

“What?”

“Tyler. Well, if we do in fact get out of here by Thursday then, yeah. He can come.”

Ali just smiled and laid her head back on Ashlyn’s chest.

“Let’s call the kids and catch them up on everything. Like Dr. Tanner said, ‘We have a long road ahead of us.’”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'll stop teasing you guys and I promise you'll actually meet Tyler next chapter!


	20. Big Brother's Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 20 chapters? Didn't expect that when I started. Well here we are! Enjoy!

“Have you heard from Tyler?”

Ali had just got home from grocery shopping and needed to know just how much time she had to get dinner ready before her oldest son arrived. She got annoyed when she saw that Ashlyn wasn’t paying attention to her and was still sitting on the couch playing video games with Matt where she left them earlier that day.

“Ashlyn!”

“Shh!” And she pointed to her lap. Ali looked over the back of the couch and saw her youngest daughter asleep with her head on her Mama’s legs.

“What’s wrong with her?” Ali whispered.

“She has a headache. Why did you think we are playing on mute?”

“It sucks.” Matt added.

Ali ignored her son and continued with her worried mom questions. “Did she take anything? She doesn’t look peaceful. How long has she been asleep?”

When her wife didn’t immediately answer any of her questions she stepped in front of the TV, blocking Ashlyn and Matt’s view.

“Hey!” They both yelled causing Micah to grunt in pain. She wasn’t asleep anymore.

“Way to go, Mom.” Matt paused the game and waited for Ali to move.

“Oh, look who gets to help with dinner now.” She reached back and turned the TV off.

“Woah, woah, what did I do?!” Ashlyn protested.

“You haven’t listened to a single one of my questions!”

“Tyler called from the airport and should be here in about 2 hours. Yes, Micah took medicine. She was only asleep for about 15 minutes. Anything else, dear?”

“Yes, I asked if you would help pick up the house before he got here and it looks the same!”

“I have one teenager asleep on my lap and I’m teaching another teenager that I can kick his butt in soccer in real life and Xbox!”

“Bull crap!” Matt wasn’t about to let his Mama talk down on his FIFA skills.

“You two can finish later. Matt, please start putting away the groceries. Ashlyn please clean up a little.”

Neither really heard what Ali said because they were still dissing each other’s gaming abilities.

“Why is everyone talking so loud?” With all the video game drama they had forgotten Micah was awake.

“Why don’t you try to sleep it off in your room, love?”

“But Mama is down here and she plays with my hair. It helps with the pain.”

“I do it too!” Ali rebuttaled.

“Yeah, you’re a better cook. If Mama has to do it we’ll end up eating take out.”

Ashlyn faked hurt and Ali just rolled her eyes. She was going to tell Micah she would be fine by herself but she could tell how much pain the girl was in.

“You two kill me! Fine, take your Mama and go sleep it off. I’ll take care of everything down here. Congrats Matt, you are now on cleaning duty.”

Matt tossed his controller to the side and complained under his breathe.

“I wish someone would kick me in the head so I could out of doing crap.”

“What?” Thankfully Micah couldn’t hear him.

Ali shot her son a look of death. “Nothing, Mic. Go sleep. I’ll wake you up when Tyler get here”

-

“Mom?”

“Kitchen.”

Ali was pulling the chicken out of the oven when Ava and Kate joined her.

“Looks good, Ali.”

“Thank you, love. Did you get a chance to pick up ice on the way?”

Ava lifted the giant bag up for her mom to see. “Um. Yeah, but why do we need it? Tyler addicted to ice now?”

Ali took the bag and placed it in the freezer. “Please don’t joke like that when he gets here. The ice machine in the fridge broke and if I use trays they wouldn’t be frozen in time.” She walked over to her long list on the counter and marked another thing off.

“Why are you going through all of this trouble? It’s not like he’s some big, important guest. It’s just Tyler.”

“Awe babe, I’m excited! I’ve never met your brother!”

“See Ava! First impressions are important!”

We’re already married. It’s not like he needs to approve. Look, I know we haven’t see him in a while but if you’ve forgotten, he is your child.”

Ali stopped for a second and took a deep breathe. Why was she so antsy?

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t want him to return home to a lot of chaos is all.”

“It seems pretty calm at the moment.” Kate couldn’t remember a time when the house was this quite.

“Yeah, mom. Where is everyone and all the yelling?”

“Matt better be putting up his laundry and not just throwing it on the floor. Parker is outside trying not to be loud. Eli is on his way. And your Mama and Micah are asleep.”

“Her head?”

“Yeah. The pain just comes and goes.”

“That’s so sad.” Ava turned and saw that Kate was now crying. She tried her best not to laugh as she wrapped her wife in a hug. Ali watched on with amusement until she remembered that there was still things left on her to-do list. She was about to ask for her daughter’s help when she heard the door open.

“Mom?”

“Kitchen.”

Eli entered the kitchen and walked to him mom, offering her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey, mom. Why are you all tense?”

“It happens when you have 6 kids. Kate, honey, please take a seat. I promise Micah will be fine. Think happy thoughts. Ava, please go wake up your mother and sister. They need to get up and moving before Tyler gets here. Eli, will you put the sheets on the bed in the guest room, please? They’re in the dryer.”

“Wait, he’s staying the night? Why?” Eli wasn’t expecting this.

“I don’t know what he is doing but I want to be prepared.”

“Why can’t he stay at a hotel? Why here?”

“Eli, please go fix the bed. If you don’t want to stay here tonight then go back to your dorm after dinner. I don’t have time to go around in circles with you right now. Your brother will be here any minute so put on a happy face.”

-

“How are you feeling, Mic?”

“Better.” Micah shrugged. She was still kind of out of it from her nap and the pills. “Kate keeps crying every time she looks at me.”

“It’s just pregnancy hormones.”

“Be lucky you never had to experience when your mom was pregnant. Crazy.”

“Excuse me. If I do remember correctly someone else got a little insane when she was pregnant too.”

“I can second that.” Ava might have been young when Ashlyn was pregnant but she has clear memories of her Mama losing it from time to time.

“Do you see those two?” She pointed to the twins who were currently doing everything they could to keep Parker of the couch. Matt had him in a headlock and Micah was thumping him. “They were inside me. Their crazy just came through me so that doesn’t count.”

“Let him go.” Ali knew to step in before Parker started crying. That was the last thing she needed to deal with right now. As soon as the twins stopped Parker jumped on Matt’s back trying to push him out of his seat. Ali was losing her mind.

“We have no normal kids. Not one.”

Ashlyn picked up the youngest and sat him in the recliner. “Babe, it’s okay.”

Ali dragged her wife to the hallway and pulled her into a hug. “Why am I so nervous?”

“Al, it’s the first time we are going to have all 6 of our kids under the same roof in a really long time. I’m a little nervous too.”

“He’s our son. It makes no sense.”

“We just don’t know what to expect. I’m sure once he gets here everything will go back to normal. Except for the fact he’s now 21 not 17. That’s a little weird.”

Ali lightly laughed. “Ew. We’re old.”

“Speak for yourself, cougar!”

Ali was about to lay into her wife when she heard the doorbell ring.

“Let’s do this.”

The mothers walked to the front door and slowly opened it. There stood their long lost son. When he left he was a slim teenager with acne and long, shaggy hair. He wore clothes too big for him and you never saw him without a hat. Now we was taller and was all muscle. His hair was short and he had a well-kept beard. He was wearing khakis and a button up tucked in. He looked like he was well put together, at least on the outside.

“Hey guys.” He seemed nervous too. Now that the family could actually see him, the mothers’ nerves turned into excitement. Ashlyn welcomed him in the house with a giant smile. Ali wrapped him in a hug. When she pulled back she joined her family in giving Tyler’s legs a confused look.

“Um. Tyler. Who…who is this?”

A little face was poking out from behind him.

Micah let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.” She thought her brain injury made her forget more than she originally thought.

Tyler bent down and picked up the little girl hiding behind his legs.

“This is Riley. My daughter.”

“Holy shit.” The twins said together. The moms didn’t even notice because they were so taken off guard. They couldn’t even formulate the right questions to ask and Tyler noticed.

“She’s two. Her mom passed away when she was only a couple months old and I’ve had her ever since. And yes, I’m positive she’s mine.”

He gave them a minute to process the information. It was a lot to take in. After another moment of silence he thought he could help them move on.

“So. Dinner smells good.”

-

Thankfully, Ali and Ashlyn invested in a large dinner table or the family wouldn’t fit around it right now. Eating dinner together was important to the moms and they want to keep the tradition going as the kids get older and have families of their own. That called for a ridiculously big table. Usually the dining room was full of chatter about everyone’s day and plans for the week. Tonight it was full of surface conversations and the sound of forks on plates. No one knew where to start with Tyler. Finally, he decided to try.

“So. What did I miss?”

“Over three years.” Eli spit. He wasn’t in the mood for letting his brother off easy. Tyler tried to play it off and move on.

“I’ve tried to keep up the best I could with news articles and media but you can’t always trust those.” He started to laugh a little. “I mean, I doubt the twins _really_ got caught up in a hacking scandal at school.”

“Oh, they did.” Ashlyn informed him, staring down the twins at the memory.

“You seriously hacked into the school system and stole test answers?”

“In our defense, we didn’t actually use the answers. We just sold them.” Matt said through a full mouth. “You remember that, right Micah?”

“Matt, I forgot a couple of weeks. Not years.”

“Mom was telling me you were struggling with your memory. Is that annoying?”

“Well one of the last things I remember is punching Matt’s ex-girlfriend in the face so at least I didn’t forget that.”

Tyler tried hard not to laugh knowing that his mothers wouldn’t approve. “And how long were you grounded for that?”

“I wasn’t. Or I don’t think I was.” It started to hit her that she might have gotten in trouble and just forgot. Ashlyn helped to clear things up with her daughter.

“No Mic, you weren’t. She deserved it.”

Tyler was, in a way, impressed. “Well, you two have stepped up your game since I’ve left.”

“They had big shoes to fill.”

“Eli.” All Ali wanted was to get through dinner, at the least. It was the first time her babies were all under one roof and she was determined that the evening wasn’t going to end in gun fire. Once again, Tyler ignored his brother.

“So Ava, what’s new with you aside from meeting this beautiful lady?”

“First, stop hitting on my wife. I can still take you down. Second, nothing much. I’ve graduated college, we got a house here in LA, and oh, I knocked my ‘beautiful lady’ up. You know, with science.”

“Wow Av, that was so romantic.” Ashlyn loved giving people a hard time. Especially her family.

“I would say that is a lot. So no arrest or suspensions for you?”

“That’s all the twins.”

Tyler thought carefully about whether or not his next move was going to be a dangerous one or not. He hoped that his moms’ presence was safety enough.

“And, Eli?”

Ali quickly stepped in. “Hey Parker, if you look in the closet in the old playroom there are some still some toys packed away. Why don’t you take Riley in there to play? Keep a close eye on her, okay?”

Once the two younger ones were in the clear, Ali turned back to the table giving a daring look. She wanted to keep things PG. Tyler looked to his brother to see if he would give answer.

“I go to school, I run, I come here, I take care of our siblings. You know, busy being the man of the house.” Eli couldn’t have given a more dry answer.

“Eli…” Tyler tried but he was cut off.

“Mom, I’m done eating. Can I be excused?”

“Actually, why don’t we clean all of this up and put a movie in? It’s been a long time since we all got to sit down together.”

“Me and Kate were about to leave. We have an early doctor’s appointment for the baby in the morning.”

“Yeah, and I’m kind of warn out, mom.” It had been a long day for Micah. It was her first full day out of the hospital and she had a lot to take in.

“I’m not feeling it.” Eli didn’t even try to come up with an excuse.

Tyler shyly looked at his mom. “Sorry mom, but it’s getting late and I need to get Riley to sleep so we should get going.”

“Where are you staying?”

“I was just going to get a room at one of the hotels around here.”

“You can just stay here, kid.” Ashlyn said shoveling the last bit of food in her mouth. Eli quickly stood up and took his plate to the kitchen.

“Well. Goodnight guys. It was good to catch up. I guess we’ll talk later.” Tyler wasn’t really sure what to say.

-

Everyone had gone their separate ways for the night and the house was finally quiet. Almost. Eli walked back and forth between the twins’ doors, knocking until they joined him in the hall. Eventually, they emerged looking tired and irritated.

“Finally! You’re pissed!”

“At you! Why did you wake us up?” Waking Micah up was a dangerous task.

“Seriously dude, why are you staying here tonight?” Matt was still half asleep and wasn’t aware that Eli didn’t go back to his dorm.

“To watch after things!”

“After what you, lunatic?” Micah was over not being in her warm, comfortable bed.

“The house! You guys! Everything! I wouldn’t be surprised if we woke up to Tyler gone and an empty house.”

“Eli.”

“No! Why are you guys acting like everything is fine? Like it is no big deal that he’s here. After everything that he’s done to you two!”

“We’ve moved past it and you need to do the same.” Micah turned to walk back into her room and Matt did the same when they were stopped by Eli’s voice.

“He wouldn’t be here if moms knew!”

“Seriously, E. Move on.”


	21. Leave it in the Past

“Why did you want to get up so early on a Saturday?”

Ali handed her wife a cup of coffee and joined her on the front porch swing before answering.

“Wanted some time alone with you. So much has been going on lately.”

“I love you, Al.” And she offered a small kiss.

“I love you.”

The two sat and enjoyed the silence together. Between Micah being scouted then getting hurt and Tyler coming back home with a kid, the family was in a whirled wind. It was nice to see time slow down for a second. It also gave them time to talk.

“We’re grandparents.” This was the information that had been taking Ali awhile to process.

“I…I guess we are.” It hadn’t really hit Ashlyn yet either. “Why does this seem so weird? Kate’s pregnant, we were going to be grandparents anyway.”

“It was just random. Oh, by the way, Kate’s gender reveal appointment got moved to tomorrow. But anyways, why didn’t he tell us? Even when he called about coming yesterday he could have mentioned it.”

“Look, the only thing I know is that we have a granddaughter.” She turned to Ali with a smirk. “You’re getting old.”

Ali gave her wife a glare but for the sake of the lovely morning they were having, she continued. “Do you think that is why he came back?”

“You think that he came back because you’re old? Maybe. Wanted to say goodbye before it was too late. Makes sense.” The blonde was really enjoying herself. Ali didn’t find it so amusing.

“Keep playing with fire Harris. Don’t make me take you out.”

“Yes my queen.”

Ali approved of her wife’s response so she started to explain her previous question. “I meant, do you think he came back because of Riley? So she could meet the family?”

“I’m not sure. Why would that take him two years?”

Ali tried to come up with an answer. She didn’t have to think long because their morning of peace and quiet was interrupted by their oldest son opening the door.

“Hey, sorry to bother you.”

“You’re fine. What’s up Tyler?” It wasn’t like the son she remembered to be so shy and polite.

“Well, Riley is up and she saw the fruit loop box and…she usually eats dry cereal in the morning so she wanted… I just didn’t want her crying and waking everyone up so I let her have some… I’ll pay you back when…”

“Love, it’s okay for her to eat some. Both of you are welcome to anything in the house, you know that.” Ali was also confused by her son’s scared rambles. He had been very cautious and tense since getting there.

“Why don’t you join us, kid?” Ashlyn pointed to the empty rocking chair across from the swing.

“Riley is playing with Parker and I’m sure she’s driving him crazy.”

“Please, Park loves it. He finally gets to be the big kid. Ever since he found out that he was adopted he has been begging us to adopt again so he can be a big brother.”

Ashlyn laughed at his thought process. “He doesn’t get that it’s not happening.”

Tyler tried to come up with a quick excuse but he was coming up blank. He finally gave up and took the seat across from his mothers.

“I didn’t know that you guys told him already.”

“Yeah that is part of the long story that ended with Micah punching Matt’s ex. He was dating Reagan Greenfield.”

“Now I get it.” And he let out that goofy laugh that showed the moms their Tyler was still in there. The two just found their selves staring at him and smiling which immediately caused him to return to his timid state. Ashlyn noticed and thought it would help to get him talking.

“So. What’s been happening with you these last few years? You know, other than having a kid.” She thought this might be a nice way of asking him where he was with rehab. For all they knew, he was still using.

“I stay pretty busy with Riley since Tara is gone.”

“Tara? Was that Riley’s mom?” The moms were starting to realize just how little they knew about their son’s recent journey.

Tyler just nodded. Ali’s curiosity was taking over.

“Will you tell us about her?”

Tyler didn’t want to make eye contact. He loved his daughter but he wasn’t necessarily proud of how she came about.

“We, uh…we met at a deal. We used the same guy as a dealer for a while. Romantic right? And one day I woke up in her bed, freaked out, and bolted. 14 months later I get a call that Tara is dead and I have a kid.” He could see the pleading in his mom’s eyes. He knew Ali needed more information.

“She overdosed. I don’t know whether she used when she was pregnant or around Riley or anything but I got her checked out and thankfully everything is fine. I’ve had full custody ever since.”    

As much as they hated to admit it, that made the parents nervous.        

“I … I know what you’re thinking and I’m clean. 15 months.” He saw the excitement on his mothers’ faces. He looked at him feet and let out a small laugh. “I guess when you’re handed at baby you don’t have much of a choice.” He got serious again for a minute. “I guess it’s what I needed. Sorry. For everything, you know. I get that you two spent a lot money on rehab and all of that.”

“Baby, we aren’t worried about the money. We are just _so_ proud that you were able to turn yourself around.”

Tyler looked like he might cry. Ali reached over and placed her hand on his, giving it a comforting squeeze. He cleared his throat and continued.

“That’s why I came. I wanted to say sorry. I also wanted Riley to meet you. I’m all she has and I realized that was my fault. She deserves to be around family. If that’s something you all want.”

“Oh, baby, of course we want that! We are so glad that you and Riley are here.”

Ashlyn cleared her throat and quickly wiped away her tears of pride. “Absolutely.”

“My job transferred me to a brother company here. I start Monday. It’s just construction, nothing fancy, but it will give me enough to get us an apartment. It’ll just take time.”

“You are welcome to stay here as long as you need, Ty. We have plenty of room.” Ash stood and slapped a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “I want to go play with my grandbaby.”

He felt a wave of relief. He only had one more thing to take care of and he knew that would take time.

-

“Micah, you seriously need to sit down and do this.”

“I have a headache.”

Ali walked over to her daughter and grabbed her face, looking into her eyes to check.

“No you don’t.” She knew her kids. “Don’t you want to get better?”

“I don’t get how doing a bunch of stupid doctor homework is supposed to help me!”

The doctors gave Micah several different puzzles and quizzes to do every day and she hated them. It takes her longer than she could stand.

“Love, it’s to get your brain moving. It’s like exercise.”

“It’s stupid.”

After a pointed look from Ali, she gave up and sat down at the dinner table to work.

-

“Hey Matt, you busy?”

Tyler knocked on his little brother’s door waiting for permission to open it.

“It’s unlocked.”

He opened the door and saw Matt sitting in his gaming chair playing Xbox.

“If mom ask, I’m study for my chemistry test.”

Tyler was about to suggest that Matt should actually study but sounding like a parent wasn’t going to help. He just sat quietly next to his brother and watched him kill zombies. Matt knew he didn’t come to his room for no reason.

“What do you need, Ty?”

“I just wanted to hang out. Talk about bro stuff. See what’s going on with you.”

“You mean you want to see if I’m still mad at you.”

He was right but it completely took Tyler off guard and Matt noticed, not that he cared enough to pause his game.

“Dude. I’m over.” He stopped for a second to focus on his kill then picked up where he left off. “Anyway, I’m over it. And so it Micah. Eli is the only one with a stick us his ass.”

“I guess he has a reason.”

“No he doesn’t! It had nothing to do with him. He’s just moody cause you left and he’s trying to play it off like he’s protecting us.”

It was obviously clear to Tyler that Eli was mad at him but he never thought it could be because of him taking off.

-

The mothers were sitting on the couch watching Parker play Wii with Riley. Tyler was doing most of Riley’s part but she thought it was all her. They were laughing at the little girl’s cheering when Ashlyn heard a noise from the dinning room.

“I’m going to check on, Mic.”

She made her way to her daughter and saw papers thrown all over the floor. Micah was sitting with her head in her hands.

“You alright, kid?”

Micah kept her head down and talked through gritted teeth. “I have a 4.0 GPA. I’ve never gotten lower than an A- in my life.”

“You got your smarts from me, in case you were wondering. Seriously Mic, it’s almost scary how intelligent you are.”

Micah slammed her hands on the table. “Then why can’t I solve these damn puzzles?!”

“Hey, calm down!” Ashlyn tried to remain patient as she pulled out the seat next to her daughter. “Dr. Tanner said that this work was going to challenge you.”

“1st graders could do solve this quicker than me!”

“Listen, kid. I know you don’t like hearing it but not everything is going to come as easy to you right now. That’s why you’re getting so frustrated.”

Micah took a deep breath and spoke in a whisper. “I hate this.”

Ashlyn threw an arm around her mini me. “Me too, kid. We’ll get through this. I’m here for you, alright?”

She waited for Micah to nod. She knew that she was worn out. “Why don’t you take a break?”

“Can we kick around out back?”

She wasn’t supposed to be participating in physical activity until she was cleared by the doctor but she figured Ashlyn was more likely to say ‘yes’ than Ali. She was itching to get training again and this was a simple start.

“You know what your mom would say.” She stood and walked toward the doorway. “Come on, grab your cleats.”

-

Ali was starting lunch for the family when Micah came flying through the back door.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Micah didn’t answer. She went straight for the stairs and up to her room. Ashlyn came in holding a soccer ball and looking disappointed.

“Ash, what happened?”

“She missed.”

“A goal?”

Ashlyn shook her head. “The ball. We were just standing there passing the ball back and forth and she missed it. I tried to tell her it was okay but.” She gestured to the stairs.

“I knew she shouldn’t have been out there. She has an injury, Ashlyn. She doesn’t need to be pushing it!”

“Alex, tell me that you truly believe keeping our head strong, determined daughter away from her passion is going to help her get better.”

Ali knew her wife was right. She was just a worrier. “I…I don’t want things to get worse. If she doesn’t get better…”

Ashlyn walked over to the brunette and took the spoon from her hand. “Babe, you are stressing about things that might not even happen. The only thing we can do is be there for her. And I think she needs you right now. I’ll finish lunch and you go be with our daughter.”

-

                “Yes, E. He’s still here.”

All Matt wanted to do was finish ‘studying for his test’ but his brothers were making that complicated. He paused his game to focus on the phone call he hoped would be over soon.

                “No, I’m not black mailing Tyler to leave. I’m not your message boy.”

                “You don’t have to come home tonight if you are so worried about Tyler.”

                “Whatever, but don’t cause drama, okay?”

-

The rest of the day ran about as smoothly as an afternoon could at the Harris house. A couple sibling disagreements, teenager attitude, tears from a two year old, and a lot of laughter. Usually on calm Saturdays the family would play some sport in the back yard but with Micah’s frustrating condition they decided on a movie. Halfway through _A league of Our Own_ Micah leaned over to Ali and whispered,

“I remember going to school and practice the next day. It was light drills because we were playing an away game at Scotts Hill the next day.” She knew Ali could use some good news regarding her injury. After making Ashlyn pause the movie to see just how many details Micah could come up with about her new memory, the parents considered the day a success. It wasn’t perfect but it was something.

Thankfully, Eli didn’t show up until after dinner so the night stayed pretty positive. At least for most of the family. Once again the twins were woken up by a pounding on their doors. As soon as they both joined him in the hallway Eli pulled them into his room and shut the door. Micah was not pleased.

“Elijah, I swear on everything good and holy in this world, if you wake me up for some bull crap again then I will rip your face off.”

“Take a breath princess, this is important. I…I seriously think you need to tell moms.”

Micah turned to walk out the door but Eli stopped her. It took everything in her not to kill him right then and there.

“They need to know.”

“No! They don’t!” Micah hissed.

“Seriously, E. It wasn’t even that big of a deal.” Matt added. He was really just now starting to wake up.

“It wasn’t a big deal?! He put both of you in danger repeatedly for years!”

Micah was over it. “Exactly, Eli! He put US in danger! Not you! This literally has NOTHING to do with you!”

“Micah…”

“No! Shut up! You don’t get it! Bringing this up isn’t helping anything at all. If you want to actually protect us then drop it! You just keep bringing things up that WE both worked really hard to get past. I don’t know why you think telling moms is going to make things right. It’s not going to make what he did okay no matter what they do! I know you want to bring him down but you’re hurting us in the process! I’m over it! I’m over being mad and hurt! I’ve forgiven him! And so has Matt so please, E, back off!”

Eli moved his hand off the door and stepped back from the twins. Micah stormed out leaving Matt behind.

“Dude, be mad if you want. We can’t tell you how to feel just like you can’t tell us to be mad. But she is right. It didn’t involve you. Leave it in the past.”

He basically slept walked back to his room. Eli shut his door and flopped on the bed. He took a deep breath,

“Screw Tyler.”


	22. Rain Check?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! My drunk self tried to finish it yesterday but thankfully didn't submit it because it was a bunch of nonsense. I'll try to make up for the time gap by posting another chapter tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

“Meka.”

Micah scrunched her eyebrows. Was she having a weird dream or was there really a tiny hand poking her face?

“Meka, wake up.” The tiny hand is real.

Micah cracked her eye open just enough to see without giving away that she is awake. Standing beside her bed, face to face with her, was her niece who was repeatedly poking her cheek.

“Meka, why sleeping?” She asked as she kept jabbing her aunt.

Before she responded Micah glanced around the room trying to figure out how the two year old got in there in the first place. Matt and Parker should be at school and surely her parents would let her sleep in a little. She noticed that half an arm was sticking out of the door way.

_What the hell, Tyler?_

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Riley. “Meka!”

Finally, the teenager opened her eyes. “Hey.”

Riley gave a goofy grin but before she could say anything Tyler came running through the door, pretending he just arrived.

“Riley. I told you to go play, not wake up Micah. She was sleeping baby.” He turned to his little sister to apologize on behalf of his daughter. “I’m so sorry, Mic. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

Micah just rolled her eyes and threw her legs off the bed. “Come on, kid. Let’s go bug Nana for some food.”

‘Nana’ was Ali. Riley decided on that all by herself which makes her Grandma Ali want to cry every time she hears it out of sheer cuteness. She calls Ashlyn “Maps.” No one is sure where she got that from but you can’t really question a toddler.

At the mention of food and her cuddly Nana, Riley got exited, reaching for Micah. She picked her up and headed for the door. She stopped beside her big brother on the way out.

“Seriously Ty, you’re an adult. You don’t have to use your daughter to talk to me. Or at the least do a better job at hiding.”

“I just wanted-“

“I know. Do you really think Matt didn’t talk to me? But it’s just like he said. We’re over it. Stop worrying so much before you turn into Mom.”

_Oh, so she wants to play that way?_

“Yeah, well you’re turning into Mama!” He knew that would get a rise out of his sister. Honestly, she was just glad to be able to still joke with her. It seemed normal.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh come on, you two are just alike! You even just called Riley, ‘kid’. You’re basically her clone.”

Micah glared at her brother before turning to leave but not before stating, “I like your daughter more than you.”

-

“Are you sure you want to wait?”

Kate was at the OBGYN and was waiting for the doctor to come in for the ultrasound. The couple recently decided on not finding out the sex of the baby and Ava wanted to make sure Kate was still on board.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Are you?”

“My moms aren’t going to like it but yeah. I think it will be cool.” Ava thought it would be a fun surprise but they knew it was going to drive her moms, mainly Ali, crazy.

The doctor joined the women and welcomed them with a warm smile.

“Hi ladies, welcome back. Sorry about moving your appointment yesterday, I had a family emergency.”

“No problem.” Ava was surprised how level headed her hormonal wife sounded.

“Ready to begin?” The doctor sat down in the chair next to Kate and lifted her shirt revealing her small, but obvious, baby bump. “So I’m just going to check the baby’s heart beat and make sure everything is good. As you know, you are now far enough along to find out the babies sex but it’s up to you two.”

Kate looked at Ava who nodded. “We want it to be a surprise.”

“We can definitely do that. So let’s get started.” She watched the screen as she moved the ultrasound around Kate’s belly. It took a litter longer than normal to give her good report. She just kept squinting at the screen which caused the expecting mothers to panic. Ava spoke up.

“Is everything ok?”

Ava’s voice pulled the doctor out of her thoughts and she quickly apologized. “I’m sorry, it’s just…this is your first baby right?”

-

“Honey, I think Micah needs to talk to a therapist.”

Ashlyn was completely caught off guard by her wife’s random comment. She turned and looked to see her youngest daughter carrying Riley on her shoulders, spinning and laughing so she was confused.

“Babe, she looks fine.”

Micah wasn’t cleared to attend school yet because of her trouble retaining information so she was just hanging out at the house for the time being. She was making steps to heal every day but she still had a way to go. The whole family understood that she needed time and patience. She quickly got aggravated when a simple task took longer than expected. Sometimes she got really quiet and ended up laying on one of her moms, crying with a migraine. She wasn’t motivated and still got wore out easily. It has been almost a week since she woke up from her coma, so everything was still going as expected. Seeing her smiling and happy made Ashlyn believe that her wife was losing it.

“Seriously Al, She’s gotten better at her puzzles, her headaches are less frequent, and she even remembers an entire week that she was missing. Come on, she’s playing with Riley. Micah doesn’t even like kids.”

“I just know, okay?”

Ashlyn stood and put a comforting arm around her wife’s waist trying to calm her. Ali’s mind was in her normal worry mode.

“Alex-“

“Don’t believe me? When was the last time you’ve seen her with a soccer ball?”

Ashlyn though back to yesterday’s incident that ended in Micah pissed over missing the ball. Ali could tell that her wife remembered so she continued.

“Exactly. It’s creeping up on 24 hours, Ash.”

For most people that didn’t seem like an issue but when it came to Micah, it was a problem. Ashlyn tried to find an excuse for the younger blonde but Ali went on before she got a chance.

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“What?”

“Ask her to go kick the ball around.”

Ashlyn let out a small laugh and gave her wife an amused look.

“If I do remember correctly, I was yelled at yesterday for allowing her to play. In case you have forgotten, she’s not cleared for sports.”

“I still stand by that but I know she’s going to say ‘no’ so I’m not worried. Go ahead, ask.”

The older blonde rolled her eyes and turned to the living room where her daughter was now sitting on the floor coloring next to Riley. She couldn’t help but notice that she was holding the crayon a little weird. She kept shifting it around and taking her time to fill in the picture. Ali elbowed her wife in the ribs bringing her attention back to the task at hand. Ashlyn cleared her throat and confronted her daughter determined to prove her wife wrong.

“Hey, Mic? Why don’t we go kick around out back? Maybe we can run some drills or something?”

Micah fidgeted with crayon without lifting her head. “I…uh…I thought I wasn’t allowed to play. Yesterday Mom said-“

“Its fine, love.” Ali cut in. “As long as you don’t push it too much and your Mama watches you, I don’t see the problem.”

That wasn’t the answer Micah expected so now she has to come up with a new game plan. She stared at the ground trying to find a response.

“Um…Rain check?”

Now, that wasn’t the answer Ashlyn expected. Micah has NEVER turned down anything related to soccer. She spends most of her life with a ball at her feet. “You sure, kid?”

Micah nodded but kept her head down. Ashlyn was still in shock.

“Mic, will you look at me?”

Once Micah made eye contact with Ashlyn she asked, “Everything okay?”

She could see the worry on her parents’ faces and knew that she needed to find a way to play it off.

“I’m just tired. Plus, I have some school work to do and the work from the doctor. I just…maybe later?”

She didn’t wait for a reply before dropping her head back to the picture in front of her. Ashlyn stared at her mini me sitting on the floor and tried to put the pieces together. Something was off.

-

“Hey, other Harris.”

Matt turned away from his locker to find Coach Harper standing behind him.

“You do realize that there is six Harris’s, right? Nine if you include my moms and sister-in-law. Do you even know my first name?”

“I assume it starts with an ‘M’ like Micah.”

“Well that’s more than most teachers.”

“Look…other Harris, I need to talk to you about something.”

This made Matt nervous and for some reason, he got defensive.

“Are you going to kick Micah off the team? I promise she is getting better and she’ll be back sooner than you think. And I know that this seems like an awful thing to say but when she can’t play she becomes a bitch and-“

“Hey, Hey, Hey. Take a second. I’m glad to hear that Harris is doing better and I’m definitely not kicking her off the team. The team still see’s her as Captain.”

Matt took a sigh of relief.

“Okay, good. I really didn’t want to deal with that.”

Harper let out a laugh and clapped his hand on Matt’s shoulder.

“So what do you need me to tell her, Coach?”

“Actually, I’m not here for Micah. I need to talk to you.”

“Sorry Coach, but I have no desire to play soccer. I tried it and all, it’s just not for me. I know, I know, my moms hate it too.”

“That’s not what I meant either. I understand that you have your baseball and hockey to focus on. Actually, I was wondering on what your plans were for the summer?”

“Uh. I’m not really sure yet, why?”

“I run this month long sports camp for intercity kids every summer and I was wondering if you would be interested in helping out since you’re a nature athlete. I know the kids would really appreciate it and you would really be helping me out. Plus, it would look good for scholarships and resumes.”

Matt wasn’t really sure that’s how he wanted to spend his summer before senior year but the thought of having something extra to put on his college application did sound nice.

“Can I get back to you on that? I need to check with my moms and I have my own sports camps, and-“

Coach Harper couldn’t help but laugh at the boys ramblings. “I don’t expect you to agree now. I mean, it’s still October for goodness sakes! I just wanted to get the thought in your head. I think you would be a great asset to my team. That is, if the whole Harris clan isn’t under house arrest the whole summer? Got any big party plays this year?”

The coach was rolling at his own humor. Matt just scrunched up his face waiting for the older man’s laughter to die down.

“Wow, Micah was right. You do make bad jokes.”

-

Ava came busting through the door and spotted Micah sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

“Where is your evil minion?!” She yelled, frantically scanning the room.

Micah didn’t even look up from the pages as she shouted, “MATT! AVA WANTS TO YELL AT US!”

A moment later Matt appeared and joined his twin on the couch. Micah sat down her magazine and the two gave the oldest Harris their full attention. This was a normal occurrence so they were very up to date on the procedure.

Ava stared down at them with rage in her eyes. “I’m going to kill you both! Undo it!”

Neither one of the twins spoke. They just shot each other confused looks trying to remember what they did this time. After a silent conversation between the two, Micah spoke up.

“Um…Undo what exactly?”

“Shut it Demon! You know exactly what I’m talking about! I’m tired of playing games with you two! You’ve gone too far!”

The twins still had no idea what Ava was raging on about but they didn’t doubt that it was something they did. They tend to set up pranks that don’t get discovered till months later after they have forgotten about them. Their thought process was interrupted but Ali entering the living room.

“Hey, my loves.”

“Hey, Mom.” The twins said in unison.

“No. Don’t ‘my loves’ them! They’re monsters!”

Ali held back her laugh and tried to calm down her princess. “I thought I heard you call Micah your special little pet name. What’s wrong Ava?”

“Them!” She screamed, pointing at her siblings. “They are hell bent on ruining my life and they took it way too far this time!”

Normally, this would make a parent panic but this was the same line used years ago when the twins hid Ava’s make up bag. Lucky Ali has a very extensive collection herself and was able to calm the storm. She figured she could do it again. She took a deep breath and turned to her little trouble makers.

“Apologize to you sister.”

Without hesitating the twins turned to Ava. “Sorry.”

Ali edged them on, “For?”

Matt looked back at his mom, “We haven’t figured that out yet.”

“BULL SHIT!” Ava finally lost it but wrangled it back in when Ali shot her a warning look.

“Love, I get that you’re mad but fighting isn’t going to solve anything. Now can you calmly tell me what the twins did so that we can work it out?”

Ava hated that her mom was talking to her like a child but she knew better than retaliate. She slowed her breathing and talked to gritted teeth.

“Kate. Is having. Twins.”

She jumped a little at the shriek that came out of Ali’s mouth,

“Baby, that’s great!”

“What?! Are you serious?!”

The twins just sat on the couch confused. Ava was growing even more impatient at their silence.

“Are you two not going to explain?!”

“Explain what?! What did they do this time?” Ashlyn had joined them wondering what her wife was screaming about.

“Kate is having twins.” Ava replied coldly.

Ashlyn couldn’t help but laugh which earned a glare from her daughter. She might not be biologically theirs but Ava sure did have Ali’s stares down. The blonde turned away from the daggers being shot at her and tried to put the pieces together.

“What does that have to do with the twins?”

Both of the twins just shrugged, completely unfazed by their sister’s craziness.

“Are you kidding me?! You think it’s just some random coincidence that first you have these two evil spawns over here who are constantly up to something then Kate winds up pregnant with twins?!”

Micah dropped her head in her hands. “Will someone please send me back to the hospital? It was nice there. So quiet.”

Ava ignored her sister once she realized it wasn’t her confession. “They are involved! They did this!”

“Honey, that’s not possible.” Ali tried to counter.

“Yeah, kid. For the first time ever I think the twins are innocent.”

Ava wasn’t buying it but she knew it was a lost cause. Everyone thought she was crazy. Maybe they were right and she just wasn’t thinking clearly. It was big news. And now, it was really starting to kick in. She sank on the couch between the twins, looking lost.

“Holy crap. Two babies. At once.”

The twins shared a look before tacking their sister in an overdramatic hug.

“Don’t worry, Av. We’ll teach them everything we know.”

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ready to find out Tyler and the twins' secret?


	23. TELL THEM!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this kind of late but I had to pull an all nighter to study for a test (which I still failed) but here it is!  
> Warning: There is some strong language and lots of cap locks towards the end. It also gets kind of dark but I promise it won't stay there. Enjoy!

“Micah, you’re still laying here.”

The younger blonde had been laying on the couch for a better half of the day and had made no effort of moving. She didn’t even look up when she heard Ali speaking.

“I don’t have anything else to do.”

She had been out of school for over a week so her schedule was pretty boring. She slept until one of her moms forced her to wake up, she worked on her puzzles and school work, get frustrated with herself, yell, sometimes cry, lay on the couch, eat, lay on the couch again, go to sleep. Everyday. Ali was worried and she didn’t understand why Ashlyn wasn’t.

“Ash, put that down and look at me.”

After a failed attempt to get her daughter moving, she found Ashlyn in the garage lifting weights. Her concerns where eating away at her and she needed to voice them. Ashlyn complied with her wife’s demands and turned to give her full attention. She knew where this was going but saw no way around it.

“Go on.”

“She needs help.”

“Alexan-“

“Do not Alexandra me right now. I’m serious Ashlyn. She has a problem and us ignoring it, won’t help. We learned that with Tyler, you said that yourself.”

“Yeah, when I thought that she was on drugs!”

“I honestly don’t understand how you’re not seeing this. She randomly gets mad, she barely eats, she just lays around! Yesterday when I came home she was staring blankly at the TV and it wasn’t even on!”

“Alex, she just had a serious head injury that she still doesn’t remember. She has a right to be in a mood.”

“With all the work you do with To Write Love on Your Arms. With everything you even went through yourself. You have sent a huge part of your life telling people that it’s okay to get help and talk about their problems. You teach people to look for warning signs and triggers so they can help others so why can’t you see that with your own daughter?”

The hurt was evident on the blonde’s face. The problem wasn’t that Ali brought up her past, she had come to peace with that a long time ago. She was beyond blessed and knew that her struggles made her the woman she is today. The problem was that her wife thought she was blind to their struggling daughter. She knew that Micah was in a low place but she didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

Ali noticed the shift in her wife’s mood but she didn’t want to back down.

“You need to see it before I’m forced to deal with it by myself.” And with that she turned and left her wife alone in the garage.

-

“Hey Kel, will you hand me that pullover that’s on my desk?”

“Why do you pay for a dorm, E?” Kelli joked as she tossed Eli his jacket on his bed.

Eli meet Kelli in his algebra class last year and they had been dancing with the ‘just friends’ line ever since. They just finished up with some homework and now she was watching him pack up a bag to go back to his parents’ house for the night and he was only half listening.

“Um. Because I go to school here?”

“You never stay here anymore. You always go home. It’s okay if you get homesick.” She ended with a smirk that she knew would get his attention.

“Homesick? Me?”

“It’s okay to admit you’re a mama’s boy. Big bad Eli needs to be around his family.”

“Please. Five siblings and two over protective mothers. I love them and all but they can be suffocating.”

Kelli let out a small laugh before getting serious and sitting next to his suitcase on the bed.

“Seriously E, why do you keep going home?”

Eli stopped packing for a moment and ran his hands through his hair. She had become his best friend over the past year and he really didn’t want to lie to her. They always told each other everything. Kelli knew every secret about him and all his embarrassing stories. But this was different and he needed to approach it lightly. She could see his gears turning.

“Does it have to do with your brother coming home?”

She was a smart girl, of course she had an idea.

“Um. Yeah, kind of. I just want to be there, you know? Just to help. It’s the younger three now and my moms stay pretty busy so I want to help out. Keep an eye on things.”

“But I thought you said he’s been clean since he got custody of his daughter?”

“He has. Or at least that’s what he says, who really knows.”

“So you don’t trust him?”

Eli looked over at the girl sitting on hid bed with her hands folded in her lap, head cocked, listening intensively. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her and she didn’t understand.

“What?”

“How much am I paying for this session, Doc?”

“Oh, come on.”

“I get that you’re a psych major but I don’t need you to analyze me.”

Kelli was smiling at him but her eyes were serious and sincere. “I’m trying to help.”

“I know, I know. I…I just want to make sure the twins are alright. That’s why I keep going home.”

 

“The twins? When are they twins ever alright? And why would they need help with Tyler?”

Kelli has had the pleasure of meeting the twins and now understands that they live up to all the stories the surface about them. With that she understood they could take care of their selves. Eli didn’t know how much to give away. As much as he hated to admit it, the twins were right about one thing, this wasn’t his story to tell.

“They were young last time Tyler was around. Still crazy, but young.” He paused for a second and breathed out a small laugh before getting serious again. “He… he kind of took advantage of that.”

Kelli could tell he was being vague for a reason so she didn’t push it any farther. She knew that he would talk when he was ready.

“Well, you know I’m here if you need me right?”

Eli smiled and zipped up his bag before throwing it over his shoulder.

-

“You like living here, right Ry?”

The toddler couldn’t be bothered by the conversation started by her father. She continued coloring on the floor of the, once again fully functional, play room. The grandparents may have gone a little over board with presents. Tyler was use to holding a one sided conversation. It was only the two of them for so long. Riley was a ‘good listener’ and it allowed him to talk through things out loud.

“It’s a nice house, right? A lot better than that apartment in Colorado, huh?”

Riley just nodded along.

“And here we have lots of family to play with.”

“Park and Matt and Meka when feels good. They play.”

_So she was listening._

She got back to work scribbling on a picture of Dora when she remembered some important information that she was way too excited to share.

“Ooh! Ooh! And Nana and Maps!”

Tyler laughed at the girl’s exclamation. It only took a moment for her to once again get distracted by the drawing in front of her. Tyler looked around the room they were sitting in. Things were so much better for them here but did he deserve it? He knew that Riley did. She was perfect, innocent and should only have the best in life. She had already been through so much that she didn’t even understand. She didn’t deserve that. She deserved the best but him? He knew that he should tell his parents everything. They had been so understanding and forgiving. They have offered him and his daughter so much.

“Should I tell them?”

_They deserved to know._

“What do you think, Ry?”

“Yep.” He didn’t really expect an answer.

“But they’ll make us leave.”

“No.”

“You don’t want to leave?”

“Nope.”

“So don’t tell them?”

“Snack?”

“What?”

Riley lifted her gram cracker to her dad’s mouth to take a bite.

“No thank you, baby. You eat it.”

Tyler couldn’t believe that he was really having this important of a conversation with a two year old. He didn’t know who else to talk to though. Eli says to tell or leave, the twins say to ignore it, Ava hasn’t brought it up, he didn’t know what to do.

-

“Hey Micah?”

Matt waited for a response but didn’t get one. He was in the dining room so he knew that she could hear him from the couch. He wasn’t about to let her ignore him.

“Micah!”

He waited again but still got silence.

“MICAH!”

“Hmm?” It was barely audible but it was something.

“I need your help.”

Once again he listened intently for a sign that she was listening to him. A moment passed before he could hear movement on the couch followed by soft footsteps. Shortly after, Micah appeared at the table and took a seat across from him.

“What?”

“Good to see you too, sis.” Matt was expecting a snarky comment that never came. She just offered a small smile and waited for him to continue.

“Um. Will you help me with this stats problem? It’s over standard deviation and I’ve just been staring at for like 30 minutes and you know how Moms freak when I leave problems undone.”

Micah shifted in her seat, taking a deep breathe. Matt expected her to come up with some excuse to get out of it but instead she said,

“Do you have a calculator?”

Matt started digging through his backpack knowing that he had one somewhere.

“It’s okay if you have a headache or something.”

“I was just watching TV.”

Matt stopped his search for a second.

“But the sound wasn’t on.”

Thankfully, Micah didn’t skip a beat and replied with a smirk, “It’s called imagination, Matt.”

Matt didn’t buy it but was glad that she could at least come up with a joke. He finally he found his calculator at the bottom of his backpack under a bunch of crumpled up notes and worksheets. Micah rolled her eyes are started working on the problem while her brother watched on, still wanting to get a conversation going.

“People at school miss you.”

Micah didn’t look up but responded with a small huff.

“I’m serious, Mic. I think Reagan even misses you. She has started torturing freshman just to get some hate out of her system.”

“You have problem 7 wrong. Want me to fix it?”

“Micah?”

“Hmm?” She didn’t look up from the work in front of her.

Matt knew that she wasn’t purposely giving him the cold shoulder but he had to admit it still hurt a little. Something was wrong and she hasn’t come to him about it.

“Are you okay?”

That got her full attention. She looked at him with agitated but pleading eyes.

“Why does everyone keeping asking that?”

Matt felt a little bad. He knew that his sister wasn’t one for showing emotions. When she had a lot going on or was feeling overwhelmed or scared or sad, she would hold it down. She waited until she was alone or everything became too much and she would break down. She didn’t like to be pushed. Matt wished that he would have just waited until she was ready to talk but it had been over a week and things weren’t getting better.

Before he had a chance to mend things they heard raised voices coming from the living room. All it took was hearing Eli yell, “Leave!” before they both took off to join them.

-

Eli had just walked in the door and got irritated when he saw Tyler digging through the drawers of the entertainment center. He immediately assumed the worst and accused his older brother of stealing from their parents. Tyler tried to keep him calm so he could explain that he was just looking for the movies but Eli wasn’t having it. He wanted Tyler out of the house.

When the twins entered the room Eli was standing in front of Tyler with his hands in a fist. Tyler was leaned against the back of the couch, holding his hands up in surrender.

“E, calm down.”

“No! You don’t get to mess with this family, disappear, then show back up and try to tell me what to do! I said leave!”

Matt quickly stepped between the two and pushed Eli back a couple steps.

“Dude, stop. You’re being stupid.”

Eli laughed.

“I can’t believe you are still standing up for him!” He looked over to his little sister who was still standing to the side. “Micah?”

She spoke just loud enough for them to hear her. “I really don’t want to deal with this. Just stop okay?”

“Are…are you two serious right now?! AFTER EVERYTHING! AFTER WHAT HE MADE YOU TWO DO?!”

“Made them do what?”

The four kids quickly turned and saw both of their mothers standing at the bottom of the stairs. Ashlyn looked confused and Ali’s face was full of concern. Eli turned and saw how pale Tyler had gotten and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did you not know they were home? Maybe I should have kept my voice down.”

“What going on?” Ashlyn asked looking around the room. Matt dropped his head, not wanting to make eye contact. Micah leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest protectively. Eli turned to Tyler waiting for him to answer.

“Someone talk!” Ali’s voice was stern and the kids knew their silence couldn’t last much longer. Eli was already on a roll so he started.

“Tyler has something he needs to tell you.”

The mother’s shifted their attention to their oldest son who quickly shot a look to both of the twins. Ashlyn noticed.

“What does it have to do with them?”

Tyler finally began to choke out an answer. “It…it was before I left.”

“Okay?”

Everyone stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue. Eli couldn’t take it anymore.

“Man up and tell them before I do!!”

Tyler looked sick. Eli was right, he need to be the one to say it but the words weren’t coming. Eli had enough.

“He didn’t just use drugs, he also sold them!”

Ali visibly became more relaxed. She sighed and said, “Honey, we knew that.”

Ashlyn continued to look at her kids trying to figure out the pieces to the rest of the puzzle. There was no way that Eli was this mad just because his brother used to be a dealer. She thought back to the glance shared between Tyler and the twins. That couldn’t have been a coincidence. As she was thinking that exact thought, she caught another shared look between the three.

“Why do you keep looking at Matt and Micah?”

Tyler spoke just above a whisper, dropping his eyes to the ground. “I didn’t realize how bad of a choice it was.”

“How bad of a…IT WAS FUCKING STUPID!”

“IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO!” Tyler wasn’t sure why he was defending himself, it was just coming out.

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER!”

“I WAS A DIFFERENT PERSON!”

“YOU STARTED USING THEM AT 10 FUCKING YEARS OLD! YOU MADE THEM CARRY AROUND YOUR DRUGS FOR YEARS SO THAT THEY HAD TO DO ALL THE DIRTY WORK THEN YOU GOT SCARED AND DISAPPEARED, LEAVING THEM TO CLEAN UP YOUR DAMN MESS!”

Tyler was over trying to plead any form of a case. It was too late now and Eli wasn’t done.

“DO YOU KNOW HOW OFTEN THEY WERE CORNERED? THREATED AFTER YOU LEFT? NEWS FLASH, DRUG DEALERS AREN’T THE NICEST PEOPLE! THEY WERE 12 YEARS OLD NOTIGATING WITH CRIMINALS TO LEAVE THEM ALONE! THE PROBLEM IS THAT’S NOT EVEN THE WORST PART! THAT’S JUST WHAT HAPPENED AFTER YOU LEFT! THAT’S JUST WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT!”

“Stop.” If Eli hadn’t had to stop and take a breath, no one would have heard Tyler.

“NO! TELL THEM!” Eli continued to scream pointing at their mothers who were frozen in shock trying to process all this information. “TELL THEM ALL ABOUT THE BRUISING AND CUTS MATT GOT FROM YOUR LITTLE DRUG FRIENDS THAT YOU COACHED THEM TO LIE ABOUT! TELL THEM HOW YOU ALWAYS STOOD BACK, OUT OF SIGHT, AND WATCH EVERYTHING GO DOWN!”

“Stop.” This time it was from Micah who looked close to tears. She still remained leaned against the wall, holding herself tightly. She wanted nothing more than to leave the room but she couldn’t get her feet to move. There was point in trying to run away from this any longer.

“TELL THEM! THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT YOU WOULD SIT BACK AND WATCH AS THOSE NASTY MEN WOULD GROPE OUR LITTLE SISTER AND DID NOTHING ABOUT IT!”

Ali took in a sharp breath and looked at Micah who had dropped her head into her hands. All she wanted to do was hide from the past.

“TELL THEM HOW YOU TOLD HER THAT WAS FLATTERING AND SHE SHOULD BE PROUD THEY WANTED HER LIKE THAT! THAT’S PROBABLY WHY SHE RUNS AROUND WITH GUYS ALL THE TIME! YOU TAUGHT HER THAT WAS ACCEPTEABLE! HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT?! YOU’RE THE BIG BROTHER AND YOU LET ALL OF THIS HAPPEN!”

Eli stopped for a second, trying to catch his breath and noticed his little sister looking so broken. Even Matt had sunken to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. It only fueled Eli’s anger but this time it was different. He turned back to Tyler with tears in his eyes and spoke in a level voice.

“If I would have known back then, I would have killed you.”


	24. Come Here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit guys! It's been a long time since an update. That's my bad. Life's been a little crazy. But here you go! It's a little shorter but I promise the next one will be longer. Thanks for reading!

Tyler’s head dropped. He couldn’t stand to look at his family. He knew they were upset, hurt, and mad and it was because of choices he made in what he considered his past life. He should have never came home. He should have just sent pictures of Riley to the family and stayed in Colorado. All he wanted was to be in Colorado. But here he was, faced with his past and nowhere to go.

He quickly wiped at his eyes and willed himself to respond.

“I…uh…I think I should go. I…I have this friend at work who…um…who I can stay with.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Eli spit back. He could still see red.

As hard as it was for him to do, Tyler looked up towards his mothers. Neither met his gaze.

“Is…Is it okay if Riley stays here for the night?”

After a moment, Ali slowly nodded but never once looked up at her son. Tyler walked down the hall to gather his things and say a quick goodbye to his daughter who was surprisingly still asleep after all the yelling. The rest of the family stayed quiet and waited for Tyler to finish. Once he had a bag packed, Tyler walked past his parent’s and whispered,

“I’m so sorry.” Then left.

Once the door shut Eli seemed to have snapped out of his anger induced haze. He noticed how broken his family looked at the moment. Matt was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled into his chest. Eli wasn’t sure if he was crying or not because he had his face buried in his arms. He looked over at Micah who was still leaning against the wall with her face in her hands. Eli walked over to her and tried to wrap her in a hug but she quickly pushed him back, giving him a face of disgust.

“Mic, I’m just trying-“

He was cut off by the sting left on his cheek from Micah’s hand. He didn’t have time to react before she turned and walked out the back door. He turned back to Matt who has now stood and started walking for the front door after shooting Eli and similar look as his sister.

_What did I do?_

Eli was completely dumbfounded.

“Eli, go upstairs.”

He turned and saw that Ashlyn was sitting at the bottom of the stairs trying to catch up. Ali was standing beside her, running her hands through her hair trying to decide what the next move needed to be. First, get Eli out of the way.

Eli wanted to argue but when he saw the look on his mom’s face he knew to just do as he was told. Once he slid past them, Ashlyn started to break.

“How the fuck did we not know this was happening?! How were we so blind?!”

“Stop.” It wasn’t harsh but Ashlyn knew he wife meant it. She looked up and saw Ali standing over her. Her eyes had cleared and her voice was strong. She meant business. “We can’t do this now. We don’t _get_ to do this now. Right now we have to take care of our kids who are hurt far worse than we imagined. We have to help pull them back together before we can fall apart.”

Ashlyn took in a deep breath and tried to grab hold of the situation.

_Why is being a mom so hard?_

“You’re right. How do you want to do this?”

How do you go about talking to your teenagers who have already been through so much? How do you offer help? Being a mom doesn’t come with a manual. In many cases, there is no clear cut-right or wrong answer. Just years of trial and error.

“I’ll take Micah. Go talk to Matt.”

She offered a hand to Ashlyn and helped pull her from the stairs. The blonde leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

“Good luck.”

-

“Nice shot.”

Ashlyn grabbed the basketball and threw it back to Matt. He lined up, and took another shot on the goal in the driveway.

“We told Eli to shut up.”

He put up another shot that rolled off the rim. Ashlyn returned his rebound and decided to ignore the fact his voice was breaking. The best way to get Matt to open up, is to keep him distracted. If he kept playing, he kept talking.

“Okay. Why?”

“It had nothing to do with him.”

Ashlyn just nodded and once again tossed her son the ball.

“Whatever. It’s too late now.”

He shot the ball with much more force than needed and was obviously frustrated when he missed.

“Ugh! Why couldn’t he just shut up!? Me and Micah were fine! We put it behind us!”

“Will you tell me about it? You know, from when you helped Tyler?”

“Eli pretty much covered it.”

Matt waited for his mom to give him the ball back before he continued.

“When your 14 year old big brother ask you to help him, you do. He already hit his grow spurt and was the star of his football team as a freshman. We were 10. Didn’t really see the point in arguing. It started simple. He would ask us to drop an envelope off to a friend. He told us not to worry about what it was, so we didn’t.”

Matt cleared his throat and took another shot, needing a second to swallow the lump forming in his throat.

“Until one day, we were doing a drop and the guy looked in envelope and just got really mad. He started yelling about how it wasn’t even enough to feel a buzz let alone get high. I think we were 11 at the time. We weren’t stupid. Tyler decided the best way to keep us quiet about it was to buy us stuff with the money he was making. He figured since we were finally older and starting to understand we could at least get ‘paid.’ Got a black eye from a druggy? Got a new video game. Micah got felt up? She got new cleats. Just kind of worked like that. Plus, he convinced us that we were in on it as much as him and if we told anyone we would go to jail.”

He spun the ball on his finger and let out a small laugh.

“Honestly, we were more scared for you and Mom to find out than the police.”

“Good. Come here, kid.”

And she pulled her boy into a much needed hug.

-

“I don’t want to talk.”

Ali found Micah sitting against the back fence and sat down on the ground beside her.

“Okay.”

She almost put an arm around her daughter but stopped herself. Micah has never been one for forced physical contact. She needed to be the one to initiate it. After what she heard in the house earlier, Ali wondered if that had something to do with her daughter’s hesitancy. Ali would just have to wait.

They sat in silence for several minutes listening to the quiet sounds of Matt’s basketball from the driveway. Micah stared into the distance while Ali shifted from staring at the ground to sneaking glances at the teenager next to her. Micah either didn’t notice or decided to ignore it. Neither made an effort to speak.

That was a difference between the twins. Matt was always open. If you asked him a question, he answered it. He liked talking things out and didn’t need encouraging to do so. Micah, on the other hand, was really guarded. She had a hard outer shell and didn’t want to seem weak. She always tries to handle everything herself which could really weigh on her at times. It took a lot of patience to get anything out of her. Patience a lot of people didn’t have. Luckily, the moms were pros.

Ali was thinking about how she should have put on bug spray when she heard Micah clear her throat to speak.

“Where is Parker?”

That’s not what she was expecting but she answered none the less.

“Walker’s.”

“Good.”

_Of course, she was worried about her little brother over hearing._

They returned to their silence. Ali was beginning to wonder if they were going to get anywhere tonight but she was going to sit outside as long as Micah wanted or needed to.

“Just say it, Mom.”

That pulled Ali out of her thoughts.

“Say what?”

Micah rolled her eyes but still didn’t look at her mother.

“You get that I know how you work too, right? You keep looking at me which tells me that you’re waiting for me to talk. You also keep shifting your feet and pulling up the grass which tells me that you have something to say.”

“When did you become a detective?”

“You’re just easy to read.”

“Okay, fine. You don’t have to talk. All that I ask is that you listen.”

She waited for Micah to nod that she understood.

“You’ve been through some shit.”

That got definitely got the teenager’s attention. Ali wasn’t one to just openly cuss in front of the kids. Ali couldn’t help but laugh a little at her daughter’s reaction.

“It’s true, Mic. You’ve been through a lot.”

As the seriousness of the conversation returned, Micah looked away again but Ali continued.

“You’ve literally had to fight from the moment you were born. I remember how terrified I was when they took you back for your heart surgery. Afterwards, looking at you, all tiny in the incubator, wires hooked up everywhere, I couldn’t do anything but watch your chest rise and fall. Your mother kept complaining that I was counting your breaths out loud. You weren’t out of the woods yet and I was terrified to take my eyes off you. You wrapped your whole hand around my finger and I promised that if you would get through this, I would never let anything bad happen to you ever again. That promise has been broken several times since then. I can’t believe this happened.”

Ali looked over to see if Micah was still with her. She noticed that she had pulled her legs tight into her chest. Micah knew that her mother was referring to the secret Eli told about the men Tyler sold drugs to taking advantage of her. The thought instantly made her feel exposed.

“Micah, I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know.”

“I should have. You’ve always been a tough one to crack but around that time you changed. Became more closed off and distance. Flinched when people touched you. Your mom and I just wrote it off as puberty and adjusted.”

Micah quickly tried to wipe the tear that escaped her eyes before her mom noticed but it didn’t work. Ali wanted nothing more to pull her hurting daughter in a hug but she knew it would be counter-productive. She watched as Micah’s tears continued to fall along with the walls she was putting up.

“I feel dirty.” Micah finally choked out.

“Baby, you were a kid.”

“They didn’t care. Those teenage boys and creepy older men, they didn’t care.”

Ali was being to struggle holding back her own tears as she continued to listen to her daughter talk.

“The first time it happened was this college boy. He had long dirty hair and his eyes where sunken. He…um, grabbed my ass and I remember turning back to where I knew Tyler was hiding, waiting for him to run in and lay the guy out. And he didn’t. Matt tried to help but the guy just laughed it off and left. I started crying and Tyler came out and hugged me saying that there was nothing to be upset about. It was just part of growing up. I believed him.”

She left out a broken laugh as she finally gave up on wiping the tears streaking down her face.

“I guess Eli was right. Maybe that’s why I let guys run over me.”

“Micah, look at me.”

The blonde was biting her lip and made no effort to look up from the grass so Ali took a chance. She grabbed Micah’s face with both of her hands and turned her so they were making eye contact.

“You are worth so much more than that, my love. You are strong and stubborn. You work hard and stand up for what you believe in. You deserve nothing but respect. You haven’t always been given an easy hand in life but you’ve always been a fighter.”

That was it. Micah broke. She leaned over into her mother and let Ali wrap her in a tight hug as she sobbed onto her shoulder.

“Come here. I love you, baby girl."

-

"I'm exhausted." 

The kids who were home had finally all gone to sleep and the house was still. Ali had just finished getting lunches ready for the next day when Ashlyn joined her in the kitchen.

"Me too. Let's go to bed." 

The couple knew they still needed to talk but that was going to have to wait till tomorrow. They were already emotionally drained. 

The two made their way to their room about to pass out when they stopped. The twins were both fast asleep in the middle of their bed. Neither mother was sure how that really happened but they also didn't have the energy to do anything about it. 

They eached kissed their sleeping teenagers in the forhead, kissed each other goodnight, and crawled under the covers on either side of them, thankful they had a big bed. 


	25. Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this once again took so long! I've been busy studying for finals but what better study break than typing out a new chapter? (I love to procrastinate) Hope you enjoy!

“NO!”

Micah shot up, grabbing the sides of her head, still coming out of her sleep. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Ashlyn ran out of her bathroom, quickly wiping the toothpaste off the corners of her mouth, to find Micah sitting in the middle of the mothers’ bed having a panic attack. She rushed to her daughter’s side and pulled her hands away from her face so she could see her eyes.

“Hey, hey, kid. Look at me.”

Ashlyn moved one of Micah’s hands to her chest.

“Follow my breathing, Mic. Deep breaths.”

Slowly, Micah’s breathing began to even out which slowly gave Ashlyn the ability to calm down herself. Dealing with Micah’s anxiety tended to worsen her own.

“You okay?”

Micah nodded and let her mama pull her into a hug.

“Where did that come from?”

“I…I, uh, I just had a bad dream.”

“Want to talk about?”

Micah pulled back from Ashlyn and started rubbing her eyes.

“I’m fine. It was stupid.”

Ashlyn was kind of suspicious since this nightmare was upsetting enough to cause her ‘big-bad’ teenager to have an anxiety attack, but she didn’t push the matter any further.

“Okay, well I’m about to drop Parker off at school, I think Matt’s already left, but Mom is still putting up breakfast if you want something.”

“I’m not really hungry. Is it okay if I just go back to sleep for a little bit? I can go to my own bed if I need to.”

“Yeah, it’s fine if you stay in here. I’ll tell Mom on my way out.”

Micah laid back down and pulled the covers over her face. Ashlyn slipped on her shoes and headed for the door.

“Micah?”

She waited for some sign of life laying under her comforter. She didn’t get one so turned and left, assuming her youngest daughter was already in her deep coma that she calls ‘sleep’. Once Micah was sure her mother had left the room she buried her face in the pillows and willed herself to move on and go back to sleep before the enviable happens and Ali comes in to check on her.

-

“Kelli! Kelli! Are you home?!”

Eli continued pounding in the door waiting for a response. Eventually, the door cracked open and Kelli slipped into the hallway.

“Seriously, E? I have roommates.”

“Well you didn’t answer your phone.”

“Do you know how early it is? I don’t take 8 a.m.’s for a reason.”

Eli pulled out his phone to check the time.

“Oops.”

No matter how early it was, Kelli couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable Eli could be.

“What do you need, E? And it better be good!” She teased.

“WillYouBeMyGirlfriend?!”

He was so urgent and random in the request that it completely threw her off.

“Wh…What?”

“It’s just that it’s kind of been a hard past couple of days and things just got out of hand last night with my family and I’m pretty sure my siblings hate me, I mean Micah slapped me last night, in the face, that happened, and Matt wouldn’t even look at me, and my mom sent me to my room like a little kid and I could just really use a win right now.”

He was talking so fast that it was hard for Kelli to keep up. She needed a second to process.

“Eli-“

“Come on. I really like you and I’m pretty sure you like me so why do we keep putting it off and playing with this whole ‘just friends’ thing? Just be my girlfriend.”

“Eli-“

“Hold on, let me ask a little nicer than that. Will you please be my girlfriend?”

“Can I talk this time?”

Eli took a deep breath and nodded that she could speak.

“I would love to be your girlfriend, but-“

Eli’s smile dropped at the word and he visibly deflated. Kelli noticed so she quickly continued.

“-not like this okay?”

“What do you mean?”

Eli wasn’t sure what Kelli was implying. Did he not ask the right way? Did she want it to happen during a candle light dinner at some fancy five-star restaurant? All he knew was that he was embarrassed.

“You literally are only asking me right now because you feel sorry for yourself and you need an ego boost.”

The hurt was evident on Eli’s face but Kelli continued. She was never one to hold back tough love.

“I’ve waited a really long time for you to ask me to be your girlfriend, but I can wait even longer if it means you will ask me at a more appropriate time.”

She turned back to her room so Eli headed back down the hallway.

“Where are you going?”

He stopped to see that Kelli still hasn’t closed the door.

“Uh…to go hide in my embarrassment.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at how red he was turning.

“Come on, E. I might not be your girlfriend yet but I’m still your friend and it sounds like you could use one right now.”

“You want me to talk about _you_ turning me down…with _you_?”

“I meant with everything that apparently happened last night but we can talk about your broken heart if you want.”

Eli rolled his eyes and walked past Kelli into her room.

“Ha Ha. Very funny.”

-

“Hey, pretty lady.”

Ali greeted her wife as soon as she came through the door with a quick kiss.

“Hey, babe. Did you check on Micah?”

“She’s still passed out.”

“I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be comforting or not.”

“I’m finding comfort in knowing she is currently breathing normally and is no longer forced to deal drugs.”

“Speaking of, we haven’t gotten the chance to talk about everything that happened last night.”

Ali plopped down in the couch dramatically.

“Geez! That was only last night?!”

Ashlyn joined her wife, propping her feet up on Ali’s lap.

“How do we approach this, Al?”

“Google it?” She joked.

“Of course. Google knows everything. Why didn’t we think of that after the party they threw?”

Ali smiled at her wife but once again turned serious.

“Our kids were drug dealers.”

Ashlyn leaned her head back on the arm rest of the couch.

“Alex, how did we miss this?”

“I honestly have no idea. I mean, they were kids. We expected things like write offs and broken windows, not running around selling drugs. They couldn’t even drive when everything started! The twins have never been innocent but Tyler…Tyler took everything to a whole different level. He put them all in so much danger, Ash.”

Ashlyn didn’t respond. She continued to stare at the ceiling fan spinning above her. Ali started tapping her wife’s foot to get her attention.

“You still with me?”

Ashlyn was pulled out of her thoughts and gave her full attention to the woman who was now massaging her feet.

“Yeah…Yeah, I’m here.”

“What are you thinking about, baby?”

The blonde hesitated for a moment, biting her lip.

“Oh okay, ‘Micah.’ Talk.”

The habit she shared with her mini me gave her away. She wasn’t sure how her wife would react and the last thing she wanted right now was a fight but she couldn’t stay quiet and Ali would know if she was lying.

“He seemed pretty upset about it last night.”

She waited for Ali to start screaming or storm out mad at the thought of Ashlyn feeling sorry for her son but Ali continued rubbing one of Ashlyn’s feet and stayed quiet.

“It just seemed like he regretted it.”

“And…”

“And…it is possible for people to change. Better themselves.”

Once again Ali didn’t speak.

“Look, Ali. You don’t have to believe that but-“

“Of course I believe that! Think about where Kyle started and where he is now. I know people can change. For the most part, the past is the past. That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“Okay. Then what is it?”

“How are we going to help our kids move on? All of them. As much as they are all denying it, it has effected them. I know they all just want to ignore it but I don’t think that is going to work. It’s as if all of these missing pieces that didn’t make sense before, about the way they acted or responded to certain situations, are starting to fall into place. Tyler being distant and running off, Eli’s sudden angry towards him, the twin’s nightmares, Matt constantly getting into fights, Micah letting guys take advantage of her-“

“Babe, stop.”

Ashlyn sat up and moved next to her wife, who was starting to tear up, and wrapped her into a tight hug.

“They’re going to be okay, Al. They are all okay.”

She softly ran her fingers through her wife’s hair trying to comfort her and continued.

“We’re going to take this step by step, alright? What do you want the first step to be?”

“That’s a good question that I have no idea how to answer.”

“Well…Micah is here.” The blonde joked but it got Ali’s attention.

Ali immediately sat up and almost looked giddy.

“So here’s the plan...”

-

“Meka!”

_Seriously? Again?_

“Meka!”

_Nope. Not happening. If I continue to fake sleeping, she will eventually go away._

“Meka! Let’s play!”

All of a sudden Micah felt something roll into her face. She caved. She opened her eyes to find a soccer ball on the bed and her niece peeking around it.

“We play?”

“They’re ridiculous.” The blonde mumbled.

She stood and picked up Riley and the ball and went to find her parents. They were both still sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and flipping through channels. As soon as they saw their daughter they struggled to hide their smug smiles. Micah was not amused.

“Really? You sent the kid in to do your dirty work?”

“What do you mean, love?”

“Seriously, kid. Your niece just wants to play.”

“Right. Riley all of a sudden wants to play soccer. Makes sense.”

Ashlyn tried to be convincing. “Ry has always loved soccer.”

“She has always loved…she’s two, she…” Micah sat her niece down and grabbed the soccer ball, bending to Riley’s level. She held the ball up and got the toddler’s attention.

“Hey, Ry? What is this?”

“Ball.”

“What kind of ball?”

Riley thought long and hard before answering.

“Baseball.”

Micah rolled the ball down the hallway and turned back to Riley.

“Why don’t you chase it and hide it in the play room? Hide it good so that Nana and Maps can’t find it okay?”

Once the toddler had waddled off Micah turned her attention back to her parents whose smug looks have been erased.

“Hate to tell you Mama but you were wrong. She apparently loves baseball.”

“Funny.”

“What’s funny is you two’s terrible attempt at getting me back into soccer.”

Ali sat down her cup and crossed her hands in her lap. That was her signature ‘serious but trying not to sound too serious’ mode.

“You’re cleared for exercise as long as you aren’t dizzy and your head’s not hurting. And you go back to school on Monday. Don’t you think it would be wise to get some work in before jumping full force back in the team?”

Micah was still easily frustrated, and with the way the last few hours have gone, this time was no exception.

“Who said I wanted to ‘jump full force back into the team’?”

Now Ashlyn was joining her wife’s ‘serious’ mode.

“What are you talking about?”

“What are you not getting?! I thought you guys would have figured it out by now. I’m done, alright?! It’s not worth it! I don’t want to play anymore!”

“What…why?”

“What the point?!”

All the tension and sudden emotion was causing Micah to get another headache and she instinctly moved one of her hand to her temple, which brought back something else she didn’t feel like dealing with. The women noticed the change in Micah’s demeanor. The younger blonde continued in a small voice, more to herself than her mothers.

“It wasn’t just a dream.”

Once again, Ali was fighting her urge to wrap her daughter in a safe hug and hide her away from the world. Instead she approached lightly.

“What wasn’t just a dream, love?”

“Are you talking about what caused you to panic this morning?” Ashlyn added, matching her wife’s concern.

“We were playing Sampson, I went for a diving header to clear the ball and #8 kicked me on the side of the head.”

Ali and Ashlyn’s faces was all she needed for confirmation.

“And scouts were there.”

When neither mother made an effort to deny it, Micah knew she had all the information she needed. She had finally regained all her memory and part of her wished she hadn’t. Once again she and the opportunity to get called into camp and messed it up. All she wanted was to end this conversation.

“Anyway, like I said, it’s not worth it.”

She turned back down the hallway but heard Ali calling after her. She wasn’t sure what she said but she didn’t care to find out.

She just gave a nonchalant, “Its fine.” As a response and curled back up on her moms’ bed. 


	26. Crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this picks up right after the last chapter and is a bit longer. (It's actually the longest chapter I've written so far.) I'll try to get a new update out soon.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Hey! Boy Harris!”

Matt turned to see Coach Harper walking down the hallway towards him. He rolled his eyes and closed his locker.

“You do know that there are four ‘boy Harris’s’ right?”

“Exactly. How do you expect me to learn all of Harris’s brothers’ names?” The coach joked.

He always called Micah ‘Harris’ so he was constantly trying to find other names for the rest of the family so it wouldn’t be confusing. One of the Harris brothers didn’t find it amusing.

“Matt. My name is Matt. I’m the only one who goes to school here.”

“Right. Right. So I was wondering-“

“Your Captain comes back on Monday, Coach. Although, I have to say, she going to be really out of shape. Well, out of shape for Micah anyway. She literally just sits around. I tried to tell her that she’s going to get fat if she doesn’t do something but she just rolls her eyes. It’s weird. I guess she thinks she can jump back into a full 90.”

Coach Harper took a second to mull over what he just heard but decided he would just work through that later. He continued to what he actually came to Matt for.

“Um. Good to know. But, actually I was wondering if you have talked to your parents about working at that summer camp I told you about yet?”

A couple weeks ago Harper approached Matt with an offer to work at his sports camp over the summer. The coach had sent a few extra details about the kids they would be working with (probably as a guilt trip. Seriously who can say no to sweet intercity kids?) and a list of schools that value community service on college applications. Since Matt didn’t make the typical grades for a Harris kid, he understood that every little bit help. He was basically sold on the camp but he didn’t want to commit to anything because he was waiting to hear back from a very competitive baseball camp that he has been trying to get into for years. Plus, he forgot to bring it up at home.

“Oh. Well. I-“

“You haven’t asked yet have you?”

“No.” Matt answered honestly. “But I will! Things have just been kind of crazy back home and I’ve also had to work really hard with my school stuff since Micah isn’t here to help and then there is baseball conditioning and-“

“Hey, woah. Slow down. Geez, are all the Harris kids ramblers?”

“Yes.”

Coach Harper let out a laugh before continuing. “It’s okay Other Harris. There is plenty of time for you to get back to me on it. I just wanted to keep it fresh on your mind. Plus, the earlier you sign up, the greater chance you have at working the sports you want. But here’s a deal, you let me know by January and I’ll let you plan out your own schedule from top to bottom. Sound good?”

“Yeah, Coach. Thanks.”

Harper gave Matt a quick hand shake and turned back towards his office.

“Hey Coach!”

The coach turned back to see Matt gesturing at the empty hallway around him.

“I’m kind of late for statistics. Can you write me a pass? I’ve already been to see Principal Keeler today and the last thing I need is for her to call my moms today.”

Harper didn’t even try to stifle his laugh as he pulled a notebook out of his back pocket.

“Who’s your teacher?”

“Stinson.”

“Ew. I mean. Okay.”

He scribbled a few lines on the sheet and ripped it off, handing it to Matt. Once he had his saving grace in his hand, Matt headed to class.

“Have a good day Other Boy Harris.” Came from behind him with a loud chuckle.

Matt had never been so excited to get to stats.

-

“Baby, Come here! Hurry!”

Ava came running to her wife’s side like she always does when Kate calls for her. She figures, like usual, it’s not anything important but she’s terrified that the one time she doesn’t rush will be life threating. She finds Kate sitting in the recliner with a huge smile on her face.

“Come here!”

She grabs Ava’s hand and pulls her closer before moving it to her pregnant belly.

“Just wait.”

Ava held her hand still for a second but nothing happened.

“Baby, I don’t feel-“

“Wait.”

Several more seconds past and Ava was about to inform her wife that she only had an hour lunch break when she felt a small movement.

“Holy shit!”

“Weird right?”

“Which one is that?” Ava asked with a small twitch. The whole idea of twins still made her uncomfortable.

“I don’t know? The left one?” Kate answered sarcastically. “ _Someone_ didn’t want to find out the genders so we didn’t really see the ultrasound.”

“Um. Excuse me that someone was you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey did you ever find your phone?”

The couple spent hours the night before looking for Ava’s phone. The turned the house and vehicles upside down and tried calling it several times. They even drove all the way back to the restaurant they ate at for dinner before finally giving up and calling it a night.

“Yep. It was in my desk at work. Good thing I brought a charger with me because between 50 missed calls from you last night and like 60 text from my family, the battery life didn’t stand a chance.”

“What did they need that badly but wouldn’t call my phone over?”

“It was just a couple of my brothers. Mainly Eli.”

“Eli?”

“Yeah. Apparently he lost it and told moms everything about Tyler and the twins. It caused this big scene and he’s all kinds of heart broken because no one has awarded him with a ‘hero of the year’ medal for it. He wants me to hold his hand and tell him he did the right thing.”

“Well…do you think he did?”

“Not really. It didn’t involve him. That’s one of the few things I have ever agreed with the twins on.”

Kate followed her wife to the kitchen so that she could start making her lunch and but could still continue the conversation.

“So who else had texted you? Matt?”

“Actually it was Tyler. After everything happened he left to stay with a friend from work for a night or two. Wanted to let things cool down. Riley stayed with my parents because the guy’s house isn’t exactly kid friendly. He wanted to know if he could stay with us if moms wouldn’t let him come back to their house.”

“Has he heard from them since it happened?”

“He said that Mom texted him this morning saying they needed a bit more time to figure some things out but that Riley could stay with them as long as she needed to. I don’t know if he plans on bringing her if he comes here or not.”

“So you told him he could stay here?”

“Yeah.”

Ava started to realize that she didn’t ask her pregnant, emotional wife whether or not the extra company was okay with her.

“Even after everything that’s happened?” It wasn’t judgmental. Kate was simply curious to what her wife was thinking. If Ava wanted to hate her brother then Kate was ready to hate him. If Ava wanted to show him compassion then Kate was ready to open her heart. She just needed to know Ava’s motives.

“It was a long time ago. I mean, yeah I was pissed when Eli told me a couple years ago but he’s a different person now. Seriously, if they twins can get over it, and it happened to them, then so can I.”

-

“Surprised it took this long.”

It had been over two hours since Micah dropped the bomb to her parents that not only had she regained her full memory, but that she also wanted to quit soccer. Since then Micah had returned to her moms’ bed and waited for them to bust in causing a scene. Surprisingly, they took their time and seemed calm. Tired, but calm.

“We were just talking and playing with Riley.” Ali informed her daughter as she climbed into bed with her.

“She finally went down for a nap. By the way, she terrible at hiding things. She just put a blanket over the ball in the middle of the floor.” Ashlyn added trying to joke but Micah wasn’t in the mood. She hadn’t been in the mood for a while. The older blonde wasn’t going to give up that easy though. She joined her wife and daughter in the bed and snatched the remote from Micah’s hand.

“God guys, what do you want?! I don’t want to talk, okay?! I’m so tired of talking!”

Ashlyn put up one of her hands defensively, still holding the remote with the other.

“Woah, dude. I’m just trying to find something else to watch besides this reality show crap.”

Micah noticed that she was going through everything that was recorded and saved on the DVR.

“Mama, I swear if you put any of World Cup games you two played in I will scream until the neighbors call the cops.”

Micah loved watching her parent’s old games but she has watched all the World Cup championship games that the two played in so many times that she could tell you play by play what was going to happen.

“Well I was looking for the 2016 Olympic Gold Medal match but fine. I guess this will do.”

She turned on what she was actually searching for which was Micah’s favorite movie, ‘She’s the Man.’

“So last night-“ Ali started but Ashlyn cut her off by pointing the remote in her face.

“Mute.”

Finally, she got a small smile from the younger blonde and a glare from her wife.

The three settled into a comfortable silence, well comfortable for Micah and Ashlyn. Ali was itching to talk things through but she understood that Micah needs time and love before she was cornered. She just fiddled with the edge of the blanket and tried not to stare at her daughter.

Micah ignored it for as long as she could before grabbing the remote and pausing the movie.

“Please just say it.”

“I’m just watching the movie, love.”

Ali was a terrible liar.

“No. You’re watching me. It’s annoying.” Micah spit.

Ali wanted to snap at Micah for the way she had been talking lately but part of her understood where she was coming from and she knew that yelling would only cause an argument. The other part of her want to inform the teen to calm it before she lost her mind. For the sake of sanity, she bit her tongue and talked gently.

“I get that you’re tired of things being hard but cut back on the attitude, please.”

That was the nicest but stern phrasing she could come up with. Honestly, Ashlyn was thankful her wife finally said something because her own patience has been running thin since Micah’s accident and it was becoming increasingly hard for her to remain calm with the teenager.

Micah didn’t reply so the mothers took it that she understood them and was deciding to keep her mouth shut at the moment to stay out of trouble. It was a smart move.

The women discussed earlier how they were going to approach this. Ali was going to bring it up with her sweet ‘lovey’ voice and Ashlyn would be there to reaffirm everything and reassure both her wife and daughter that things were going to get better. They had a plan but now that they were in the moment, Ali was frozen. She didn’t know where to start. Ashlyn saw the panic build in the brunette’s eyes and decided to go for it.

“Micah, we think you need to talk to someone.”

“That’s what I thought we were about to do. I paused the movie and everything. You have my full attention.”

“No, kid. Like a therapist.”

Micah quickly sat up in the bed and turned around so she could look at both of her parents.

“All because I said I wanted to quit soccer?!”

Ali was finally starting to react and was able to join the conversation.

“Honey, no. If you never want to touch a soccer ball again then so be it. That’s not what we are worried about. You’ve been through a lot and ignoring it isn’t going to work forever. It’s going to build up and take over.”

“So that’s what you guys have been talking about? You think I’m a nut case? I’m not crazy. I don’t need to talk to a skrink.”

“Of course we don’t think you’re crazy, kid. The fact that you have dealt with everything this well for so long proves just how strong you are, mentally and physically. Even if you don’t notice it right now, I think it’s starting to affect you, Mic.”

“So I don’t run around like I used to. So what? It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“Micah, baby, you sleep all the time. You barley eat. There is times when it’s impossible to get more than a nod out of you.”

“I’m tired.”

“That can’t be an excuse forever.” Ashlyn tried to explain.

“I got kicked in the head. I’m still not 100%”

“Micah, it’s not just about that and you know it.”

“Love, what those men did-“ Ali started but Micah quickly cut her off when she saw which direction this conversation was going.

“Seriously? Did we not talk enough about this last night?”

“One talk isn’t going to fix everything. You can keep trying to deny it as much as you want but all of this is serious, Mic.”

“Are you two going to bug Matt about this? Make him talk to someone? He went through all the seriousness too. Or is it just me? I’m a girl who’s not twirling around and singing constantly so I must need help, right?”

“Micah-“

“Are you going to tell Matt he needs therapy too?” Micah reiterated.

“Yes, kid. We think it would be beneficial for both of you to see a doctor.”

Ali looked to her daughter with pleading eyes. She really just wanted to get her point across.

“Baby, it’s not that we are giving up on you or think that you’re weak. You’ve been through so much, much more than a normal person could handle, but you can’t keep living like this. We aren’t going to let one of our kids slip away again. Ignoring it doesn’t solve anything but we also learned with Tyler that forcing you won’t help either. It needs to be your choice. You need to want to help yourself.”

Micah didn’t say anything. In her head all she was thinking about was telling her parents to ‘fuck off’ but she knew that wasn’t really an option. For a few moments she closed her eyes and stayed quiet trying, with all she had, to zone out and forget the situation she was currently sitting in. She wanted to transport herself anywhere but here. Her room, the beach, even school. But when she finally opened her eyes she found that she unfortunately was still sitting in her parents’ room with them looking at her with sad eyes. She didn’t know what she was going to do but there was no way she could decide with them both intensely staring at her.

“Can I think about it at least?”

“Of course, love.”

“I still don’t want to play soccer.”

“That’s fine.”

Ali was being sincere but she would be lying if she said that it didn’t hurt a little. The talk honestly went better than expected.

“Want to finish the movie since Riley is still asleep?” Ashlyn asked, hoping that Micah didn’t feel smothered.

The younger blonde nodded and turned back around, leaning against the headboard between her mothers. She made sure not to touch them. They weren’t going to win that easily.

-

“Hey Matt?”

Micah knocked lightly on her twin’s door, unsure whether he was already asleep or not.

She had distanced herself, more than usual, from the family for the rest of the day. She had a lot to think about and no matter how hard she tried to push her mothers’ words out of her head she couldn’t ignore them. Now that the house was quiet she felt like it was safe to confide in Matt.

After a couple more soft knocks Micah heard footsteps moving towards the door. Matt slowly opened it, rubbing his eyes, and step aside giving his sister room to come in.

“What’s up, Mic?”

“I needed to talk to you.”

Matt figured she wanted to talk about the conversation that she missed at dinner since she opted out of eating. Again.

“About Tyler? Moms’ said at dinner that they talked on the phone and he was going to stay with Ava for a little bit. Something about giving the family time to heal and how he might be a trigger. Riley will just kind of go back and forth between here and there.”

That was definitely new information to Micah but she didn’t find it important enough to change the subject from what she really came to him about.

“Did moms talk to you about therapy?”

“Oh.” Matt should have known that was what was bothering her. “Yeah, they did.”

“It’s stupid.” Micah finally felt like she could vent to someone. She actually started to feel relieved.

“Why?”

There went her relief.

“What do you mean ‘why’? It’s not like we’re crazy.”

“When did they say we were crazy?” Matt asked confused. Maybe he and Micah had totally different conversation with their parents.

It was way too late for Matt to try and keep up with is sister’s thought process so he simply waited for an answer.

“It was implied!”

“I don’t think it was.”

“Oh my god.” Micah mumbled as she turned to leave. Matt quickly grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

“What’s so wrong with talking to someone?”

“Are you seriously thinking about it?”

“Yeah, dude. I already told moms that I would. Mama said she would call in the morning to make an appointment.”

“So you want to go lay on a couch while some old man scribbles on a pad and tries to talk about your ‘feelings’?”

“Life isn’t a TV show, Mic.” Matt replied with a laugh. He saw that Micah wasn’t in the mood so he continued.

“Look, we’ve always just hid stuff or tried to cover all the hard times up with a joke. I’m just tired of doing that. Pretending that things didn’t happen doesn’t make them any less real. I’m tired of nightmares. I’m tired of hearing you have nightmares. I’m tired of thinking every time someone brushes against me in the hallway that they look at me like a little kid and wants to fight. I’m tired of wanting to gag every time I see you hug a guy because I instantly have flashbacks of those pervs taking advantage of you and getting a sick feeling in my stomach because there is nothing I can do about it. So yes, if going and laying on a couch while an old man writes in a pad and asks me about my feelings will help me with all of that, I’m more than willing to try. Honestly you should be too.”

“Geez, why did you have to get so deep on me?”

Matt was about to defend himself when he saw a small smile creep across Micah’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you think they twins are going to react to therapy? How do you think Ali and Ashlyn will react to seeing Tyler for the first time since everything has come into light? I always love you guys input!


	27. Therapy and Lab Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of long but I couldn't find a good stopping point earlier on. Also this chapter has a lot Micah so if you hate her... sorry. She had just been the easiest to write for recently and the current story line effects her a lot. I promise it won't always be like this. I haven't forgot about the other kids or the fact that the moms need alone time. Thanks for sticking with me!

“Call if-“

“If I get a headache. Or too tired. Or dizzy. I’m going back to school, not boot camp.”

It was Micah’s first day back to school since she was injured and a Monday which means the family was struggling to stay on time. Micah was just trying to get out the door and away from her mother’s worried nagging.

“I’m serious, love. I know that you were cleared but only you know your body. If you need to come back and wait a few more days you-“

“Mama!”

Ashlyn walked around the corner confused as to why her daughter hadn’t left for school yet.

“Why are you still here?”

Micah simply pointer at her mom who was standing in front of the door.

“Tell her to move. I’m going to be late.”

“Alex…”

The brunette put her hands up in surrender and stepped to the side.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re ready, that’s all.” Ali defended in a soft tone.

“Mom, I swear if you start crying-“

“Go to school.” Ali said as she shoved her daughter towards the door. “I’m fine. You’re going to fine. It’s…its fine.”

Micah rolled her eyes and reached for the door handle, only to be stopped once again, but this time by Ashlyn.

“Don’t forget about therapy.”

Micah didn’t respond. She just opened the door and hurried to her car. She was almost in the clear when she heard Ali calling after her.

“And remind Matt! His appointment is before yours!”

All she got in response was a quick thumbs up so she definitely wasn’t amused when her wife started laughing. She shot Ashlyn a glare.

“What? You’re lucky you even got a response at all after blocking the door, you freaking smotherer.”

“Excuse me for wanting to make sure she was ready.”

Ashlyn wrapped her always worried wife in a hug.

“It’s been almost a month, Al.”

Ali pulled back just enough to look Ashlyn in the eyes.

“Don’t act like she’s completely fine.”

“I’m not, but I know she’ll get there.”

Ali tried to convince herself of that and leaned back into her wife’s embrace.

“You don’t think she’ll kill her therapist, right?” Ali mumbled into Ashlyn’s neck.

“She has to show up for that to happen.” It was their first session. They weren’t expecting much.

Ali groaned and stepped out of the blonde’s arms.

“She better. Tyler will be picking up Riley then and I really don’t want the twins here for it. As long as Matt doesn’t try to skip tutoring and Micah actually goes to her appointment, everything will be fine.”

Riley stayed with the moms for a couple of nights at first while Tyler got moved into Ava’s house before she joined them but Tyler asked for his mothers to keep her over the weekend since he got asked to work overtime. The mothers happily agreed wanting the time with their granddaughter and understanding that a pregnant, emotionally unstable Kate needed a break from the hyper toddler.

“Baby, you can’t keep them from their brother forever.”

“I’m not.”

“Ali.”

“What?”

“You made them go watch Parker’s hockey PRACTICE when Tyler came to pick her up the first time and you physically relaxed and practically became giddy when he said Kate would be dropping her off Friday.”

“I’m trying to give the family space to heal. I know we weren’t aware of everything when we let him move in but it was just too much. We forced the twins to face him every day.”

“So you’re going to schedule the twins’ routines around Tyler’s appearances forever, huh?”

“No, smartass. I just think it’s easier now that he lives with Ava and Kate. This way we can invite him over on our terms until everyone has had the time they needed to work through all of this.” Ali gave her wife a smug smile and added, “Aren’t you always the one saying ‘baby steps’? Yep. That’s you.”

It was Ashlyn’s turn to give Ali the glare. Of course she would use her own words against her.

“Funny. And people think I married you for your looks.” Ashlyn responded sarcastically.

“Oh, I definitely have looks. My humor and cleverness just sealed the deal. What can I say? I’m irresistible.”

“Okay Mrs. irresistible, how about inviting Tyler over for dinner on Wednesday? Is that small enough?”

“Yep.” Ali stretched up and gave Ashlyn a quick peck. “Good job.”

-

“Welcome back.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Mr. Lee looked just as excited for Micah to be back in his chemistry class as he would be for a root canal. Most of the teachers weren’t fans of the twins, usually for good reason, and they were often blunt about it.

“You know me well, Harris.”

Suddenly Bridget, one of the seniors on the soccer team, busted in the room. She also happened to be Micah’s ‘elder.’ Every year, the freshman on the team got paired with a girl a year older, that they called their ‘elders,’ to have as a mentor. Micah knew she was about to hear it.

“Hey Mr. Lee. Can I borrow Micah for a sec?”

The teacher glanced at his watch and noticed that there was still a few minutes before the bell.

“Make it quick.”

Bridget basically dragged Micah into the hallway.

“Ow. Will you let go? I’m not going to run away.”

“Did you seriously quit the team?”

“Bridget-“

“Yes or no?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Why are you so stupid?”

“Thanks, love you too, B.”

“Shut up. I get that your head’s kind of fucked up right now but it’s my last year and you’re ruining it.”

“How am I ruining it?! Haven’t you been captain while I was gone? Now you get to keep it. Congratulations.”

“I don’t want the freaking arm band. I want to share the pitch with the girl that I’ve always looked at like a sister. The girl who has always made me laugh when I was pissed. The girl who I’ve always wanted to be my best for. I mean, shit, Mic. Ever since you showed up to try outs as an awkward freshman I knew you were going to be a force to be reckon with. I sure the hell didn’t expect you to give up. Especially after how hard you pushed me to return when I tore my ACL last year.”

“That’s different.”

“Bull shit.” Bridget snapped. She slid off her backpack and pulled out something, shoving it at Micah. “Here.”

Micah took the fabric and saw that it was the captain arm band.

“Bridget-“

“No. Shut up.” She said, not wanting to hear Micah’s reply. “You’re keeping it whether you’re on the team or not as a reminder of how stupid you’re being and when you finally get over yourself you can wear it on the pitch.”

She stormed down the hallway leaving Micah with a light headache. She thought about calling home before it got worse but she didn’t want her mom to win so she headed back into class.

“Oh, Micah?” Mr. Lee said, stopping her. “Once again, stop doing your brother’s work. Even with a head injury your work far exceeds anything he could come up with.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Micah took her seat and pulled out her notebook, quickly reading over her notes before class started. She was distracted when she noticed a guy standing next to her. When she looked up, she was met with an unfamiliar face.

“You must be Micah. I’m your new lab partner.” He said with a country accent and a nice smile.

“Who the hell are you?” Micah was still kind of irritated after what just happened with Bridget. She really didn’t feel like dealing with this.

The boy just laughed and took the empty seat next to her at the lab table.

“Yep. You’re Micah.”

“Oh my god. Of course.” Micah spat. This new guy was not helping her headache.

“Woah, darling. It’s just that-“

“Look, I get it. People talk and I don’t have the best reputation but whatever.”

“And what exactly do you think I’ve heard?” He jokingly asked, unaware of the girl’s current mood.

“That I’m a cold hearted slut but it’s fine. If you want to be ignorant and believe what other people say then go for it. Have fun at the cool table at lunch. I’m sure the preps love that whole southern thing you got going on.”

Surprisingly, his smile didn’t waver. “Actually, the preps think the ‘whole southern thing’ makes me a back wood hillbilly so I haven’t exactly been invited to the cool table. Really the only person who has tried to talk to me besides teachers is your brother who, by the way, is the person who told me about you.”

Micah started to feel a little bad for jumping to conclusions but not bad enough to apologize. “Well he better have not called me a cold hearted slut.”

“I’d rather not say.” But he quickly retreated when Micah shot a deadly look. “Kidding. Kidding. I’m Spencer by the way.”

“I thought it was back wood hillbilly?”

“Oh! So you _can_ joke. I also heard you were smart so when do you want to start this molecular structure project? We’re a little behind. Actually we’re a lot behind. I asked for an extension since you haven’t been here but apparently you are not a favorite of Mr. Lee’s.”

“Yeah, that’s a constant theme around here. If you want, you can come to my house tonight and we can work on it.”

“Alright. Right after school?”

“That’s fin…actually can we make it later? Like 6?” Micah almost forgot about her therapy appointment.

“What, you got a hot date?” He laughed.

“Something like that.”

-

                “Hey mom.”

                “Yeah?”

                “But-“

                “Yes ma’am.”

                “Yes ma’am.”

                “Love you, too. Bye.”

Eli rolled his eyes and sat his phone on his desk. Kelli noticed his mood change.

“What’d your mom want?”

“To tell me that Tyler would be a family dinner Wednesday night and that I was either to come and act like a civilized adult or not come at all.”

“Well what are you going to do?”

“Haven’t decided.” He grabbed Kelli’s computer off her lap. “Now, will you be my girlfriend?”

She took her computer back as she replied. “No. And If you pity ask me one more time the answer will stay no.”

-

Micah sat in the waiting room of the therapist office, continuously asking herself why she was even there. The moms set all of her appointments after Matts’ which ‘coincidentally’ was the time she would be getting out of soccer practice. Apparently, they were staying optimistic about that.

Micah stood and was actually about to leave when the office door opened and Matt stepped out. She took a deep breath and walked into the room past Matt and the doctor without saying a word.

“Yeah, have fun with that.”

“Thanks Matt. See you next week.”

The doctor closed the door and took the seat across from Micah. He wasn’t at all what she was expecting. She had pictured an uptight old guy on his death bed who took life to seriously. The man sitting in front of her looked young and relaxed. He was wearing jeans and a Cubs shirt. Instead of framed diplomas and pictures of presidents his office was covered in sports memorabilia. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the name plate on his door, she wouldn’t have guessed that he was a doctor.

“How are you?”

“I’m here aren’t I?”

“Not really sure that answers the question but okay. I’m Jacob. I’m 27, I graduated from Yale, I run marathons and I don’t know how to swim. I could list more but I take it that you could care less about small talk and want to get started with the real stuff.”

“Isn’t that what my parents are paying you for?”

“Charming. So I hear you quit playing soccer?”

“I thought we were skipping the small talk?”

“We are.”

“Soccer’s not therapy so why don’t we just get to it?” She spat.

“Okay. So you hate men?”

For the first time, Micah made eye contact. _Was this guy serious?_

“What?”

“You have a problem with guys. You don’t trust them and it’s made you have this weird relationship with them. You act different around them.”

“No I don’t!” Micah tried to defend. The doctor kept going.

“Yes you do. Name a male that you don’t have issues with.”

“I have four brothers for Christ sake!”

“Please. You have problems with them.”

“No I don’t!” _What’s with the rapid fire talking?_

Jacob flipped open the file in his lap as he went on. “Let’s see. Parker, he’s the youngest so I’m sure he is clingy and annoying. Probably a cry baby who tends to get the attention. I’m sure that’s why you started acting out at a young age. Hard to have people look at you when there’s a new baby. Then there’s Matt. Having a twin must be hard sometimes. Always having to share. Always being compared to one another. Constantly needing to help him along. Eli, he’s the one who started all this, huh? Can’t keep his mouth shut? I’m sure it’s not the first time. Oh. And Tyler. Geez, Tyler. He pimped you out. Literally. That must be why you have lost respect for yourself.”

“I have not!”

“And why you mess around with guys.”

“Who told you that?!”

“You just did. Calm down, I’m just doing my job. Being a therapist. How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“Excuse me?!”

Jacob kept his cool as he watched Micah unravel as he continued.

“Who do you blame for how you turned out?”

Micah didn’t reply. She just bit her lip trying not to cry. She couldn’t tell if it was from anger or hurt. The doctor let the silence continue for a second before speaking in a softer tone.

“Didn’t like that? Yeah, me neither but you wanted to get to it. Seems that _your_ way didn’t work. So let’s try this again. I heard you quit the soccer team.”

-

“Ready to get started?”

“You’re already here?”

Micah was finally home from her therapy session and she didn’t expect Spencer to already at her house, let alone sitting in the living room with her family.

“I called him.” Matt informed her as she greeted her mothers. “I figured he could come and chill until you got done.”

“Now I’m all yours.” Spencer added, picking up his backpack. “Where to?”

“Let’s go out back. We can sit at the bar.”

“Sounds good. After you.” He motioned for her to lead the way and followed her out.

“He’s sweet.” Ali stated matter-of-factly.

“Let’s not get carried away just yet. He’s alright.”

“Yeah well you also thought that about Reagan, so...” Matt added before being hit by a pillow thrown by Ashlyn.

-

“How long did you play soccer?”

“Who said I played?” Micah asked coyly. After today, she just wanted a laid back, joking conversation.

Spencer dramatically pointed out to the yard. “Y’all almost have a full sized soccer field in your back yard.”

“You know who my parents are right?” It wasn’t very often that Micah had to explain her moms’ careers to people.

“I’m from Texas. Not under a rock. But you played too.”

“What makes you say that?”

“First, your legs. It had to be soccer or gymnastics. Also, there was several framed pictures of you holding awards with your parents hanging in the house.”

“Matt told you, didn’t he?”

Spencer’s small smile slowly grew. “Okay, that too.”

Micah just laughed as she pulled out the book and started flipping pages. She was distracted when Spencer suddenly got up and pulled her with him.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re gonna play a game.”

“What happened to our project?”

“I’ve basically finished it. Really we just have to sign our names.”

“What?! Then what are we doing?!”

Spencer tried to act like he didn’t know what she was talking about. “I just told you. We’re playing a game.”

“You know what I mean. Why are you here?”

“Maybe I wanted to see what all these Harris’s had to offer.” He picked a soccer ball sitting under the tree and walked towards one of the goals. Micah stopped following him.

“What? This ball haunted or something?” He tried to joke.

“I don’t play anymore.”

“We’re not about to play soccer.”

Micah crossed her arms defiantly across her chest. “Then what exactly are we playing with a soccer ball and goal?”

Spencer thought of a second, trying to come up with a name on the spot, as he stepped into the goal. “Kick questions. You’re going to kick the ball and I’m going to try and stop it. If you score, you get to ask me any question. If I block it, I get to ask you. And we have to answer honestly.”

He waited to see if she would walk over but she remained frozen in the middle of the yard.

“Come on, sunshine. Just try it.” He added, flashing a smile.

Micah rolled her eyes and took her place just inside the box.

_Stupid southern charm._

Spencer rolled her the ball to her and jumped up and down a couple times and stretched his arms. Micah waited for him to finish, laughing at how serious he was taking this, before she lined up and took a half-hearted shot, not putting much force behind it. Although it was a weak kick, she was still surprised when Spencer effortless stopped it with perfect form.

“What? Oh! Did I not tell you that I was the keeper for my old team in Texas? We won state.”

He couldn’t hold back his laugh at the annoyed look Micah was giving him. “Fine. Let’s go again.” Her competitiveness was coming out.

“Hold up, little missy. I do believe I get to ask a question.” He tapped his finger on his chin, making sure that Micah knew he was ‘thinking hard’ before asking, “What’s it like being close to your parents?”

She wasn’t expecting that. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, Micah. As soon as you walked in they both kissed you on the cheek and started asking about your day.”

“Okay?”

“That’s not necessarily normal. My family doesn’t speak. Like at all. But come on, answer the question so we can keep going.”

Micah started digging her shoe into the grass. “Um. Well, it’s alright, I guess. I mean, sometimes it’s really cool. Like when I need support or something. But sometimes it can be really overwhelming. Like my mom is a worrier and that can be smothering. And my mama, she can be hard on me sometimes, saying ‘she expects more’ but whatever. And they are both really protective. I just try to remind myself that it means they care so that I won’t go crazy.”

She looked back up to see Spencer giving a sincere smile. He rolled the ball to her so the game could continue. Micah wasn’t sure if it was her competitiveness, the interest of the game, or how easy Spencer made things, but she completely forgot about all her insecurities and reason behind swearing to never play again. She lined up and sent the ball soaring to the top corner. Spencer had no chance and couldn’t hide how impressed he was.

“So that’s why you have so many trophies.”

“What did you think they were? Participation awards? And I do believe I get a question.”

“Do your worst.”

Micah mimicked his earlier thinking face. “So, what’s up with your family?” When he slightly dropped his head Micah quickly back tracked. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine! Really. Uh, I’m an only child. My parent’s didn’t really plan on having kids so I clearly wasn’t planned. And I don’t know, it’s like I said, we just don’t talk. Or really acknowledge each other’s existence.”

It was Micah turn to give a sincere smile. Spencer just rolled the ball back.

“You’re not getting past me again.”

Micah laughed. “You tell yourself that.”

They took shot after shot and answered question after question. They covered everything from favorite foods to fears. It was a good thing it only took a couple seconds to sign the project Spencer already finished because they wasted hours getting to know each other.

-

“Ali, come here, please!”

The brunette joined her wife and looked where she was pointing out the window. They both watched as their daughter took shots against this new boy. She would kick, they would talk, she would kick again. The mothers weren’t really sure what they were doing but they were too caught up in the fact Micah was, first of all, smiling and laughing, and secondly, playing soccer. After watching for several minutes Ashlyn spoke again.

“Hope he sticks around.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s a goal keeper.” Ali joked.

“It definitely doesn’t hurt.”

Ali smiled and took her wife’s hand. “Come on, baby. If she sees us watching she’ll freak.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you feel about this Spencer guy? What about the therapist?


	28. That Word is Now Banned!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Back!   
> Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. I was dealing with some personal stuff and just needed to focus on reality for a bit. But I promise to never disappear on you guys for that long again. Anyways, I hope you enjoys! You're all appreciated! Thanks for sticking with me.

“Ashlyn.”

There was no movement from her wife’s side of the bed.

“Ashlyn.”

Still nothing.

Ali carelessly started patting the blonde’s face in hopes to wake her up. Finally, she received a grunt.

“Ash. One of the kids need something.”

Ashlyn didn’t bother opening her eyes and pulled the cover tighter under her chin.

“It’s unlocked.” She said loud enough to be heard outside of the door. Slowly it opened. After all these years Ashlyn knew better than to question Ali’s special super mom powers. If her wife said a kid was there, a kid was there.

This time the kid was Micah.

“I hadn’t even knocked yet.”

At the sound of her daughter’s voice, Ashlyn cracked an eye open to glance at the alarm clock. Surely they had over slept if Micah was up and moving. When she saw that it was only 6:00 am she slammed her eyes back closed and pulled the comforter over her head. Surely this meant Micah was sick and she was not the one to deal with that.

Ali shook her head at her wife and gave the younger blonde her attention.

“Why were you just standing outside our room, Mic?”

“I was thinking about aski… never mind. It’s stupid. Just don’t worry about it.”

She was backing out of the room when Ali called out to her.

“Micah Grace.” It wasn’t harsh but it wasn’t necessarily warm either. It was early and Ali still wasn’t fully awake.

Micah looked down at her feet for a few seconds and swallowed hard.

“It was just something that Jac…the therapist suggested on Monday and I didn’t hear my alarm go off yesterday and I thought I would try today since I have to go back this afternoon and I know he’s going to ask about it even though it’s stupid and it’s not going to do anything but he doesn’t really listen, well I mean he listens, it’s kind of his job but it doesn’t really-”

Ali finally decided to cut off her daughter’s rambling. “What did he suggest?” Her tone had definitely gotten softer.

Once again the teenager started talking in a fast speed just trying to get it out quickly.

“Running with one of you guys every morning. You know, like make a schedule? One of you guys on Monday and Wednesdays and the other one on Tuesday and Thursdays. I’d do it by myself on Fridays. Apparently, I need the alone time. I think the dude is under the impression that physical exercise it the way to my emotions or something. Anyway, I told you it was stupid so don’t worry about it. I’m just going to-“

“Are you asking if one of us will go running with you?”

“Uh. Yeah. But you don’t have to if-“

This time Micah was cut off by Ashlyn wordlessly standing up and walking to her closet. Eventually she noticed her daughter and wife’s confused stares.

“Well are you going to go put your shoes on or do you plan on running barefoot? I got to get dressed so I’ll meet you at the door.”

-

“Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom.”

Ali turned to look at her youngest but instead of filling her in on what he so desperately needed he continued his panicked staring between the older woman and his shirt repeating his call for her.

“Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom-“

“Parker! I literally looking at you. What do you want?” The brunette was not able to fall back asleep once her wife left the bed early this morning so she was more tired than normal.

“I got juice on my shirt and I don’t think it’s going to dry good.”

“Honey, you spilt orange juice on a white tee. It’s going to stain so-“

“But it’s my favorite, Mom!”

“Park, it’s just a plain white shirt.”

“But Mama has one just like it!”

Ali had to admit that was cute. Still, hearing someone call for you 54 times in a row would put anyone on edge. She sighed and tried to approach the currently unstable 10 year-old.

“I know, buddy. She spills on her’s all the time too. I’ll try my very best to get the stain out but in case you haven’t noticed, you have three others just like this one, so go change.”

“But Mom-“

Ali just went back to her place in front of the stove and tuned the boy out. She knew he would eventually ware himself out over trying to argue his point. Between the popping food in the pan and Parker’s constant jabbering, she didn’t hear the front door open.

Ava let herself in the family home and began to follow the smell of bacon when Matt came sprinting down the stairs, almost busting his ass when his sock feet hit the hardwood floors.

“You have the balance of a new born deer.”

Matt ignored his sister’s snarky comment and continued his run to the kitchen.

“Mom!”

He turned the corner so fast that he once again lost his footing and caught himself on the counter.

“Mom!”

“No running in the house! It’s a rule.” Parker added, still in his juice covered shirt.

“Parker, we’ve talked about this. Tell what to do again and I’ll make you swallow your braces.”

Ali gave the teenager a look that had a very clear message. Matt huffed and mumbled a very insincere “sorry” before drawing back his fist causing the younger boy to flinch.

“Matthew Grey, did you need something or did you simply come in here to test my patience this morning?”

“Oh, yeah!” Matt suddenly remembered he had important information that made his panic return. “Mom!”

Ali sat down her spatula and brought her hands to each side of her son’s face.

“Here, does this help? I’m literally looking at you. Apparently, you and your brother doesn’t understand that that means I’m paying attention. What is it?”

Matt mumbled through his squished cheeks, “Micah isn’t upstairs. I think she ran away.”

“Hun, she out running with your Mama. They’ll be back soon. Now, if you’ve made me burn my turkey bacon you’re grounded.”

She released Matt’s confused face and went back to check the crispiness of the food.

“But…but it’s so…early.”

“Matt, I don’t know what you tell you. Don’t overthink it. Now here.” She handed him the plate of eggs. “Sit.”

Once he was out of the way she continued to pull the bacon out of the sizzling pan as Ava pulled herself up on the counter.

“Hey mom?”

“That word is now banned! No one is allowed to say it!”

Ava stayed silent for a second running through the risk factors in her head.

“Um, can I still ask you a question?”

“That is a question.”

Matt mumbled “And she wonders where we get our attitude from” before quickly looking at his plate trying to dodge the glare he was receiving.

“What is it, Ava?”

“I was just wondering if I could eat breakfast here.”

“Don’t you usually grab something on the way to work?”

“Yeah but we’re trying to budget since we’re getting a two-for-one deal on money suckers otherwise known as babies. And I tried to cook something at home but every little smell makes Kate sick. Plus, she wanted me to leave so.”

“Love, I’m sure she didn’t really want you to leave.”

“Her exact words were ‘Ava I love you but I need you to get out of my face for a bit.’”

“Yep, she definitely pregnant. Of course you can eat here. Take this.”

Ali handed her oldest the bacon and followed her to the table carrying the biscuits. The kids were grabbing for the food when they could hear Micah busting in the door and come in the kitchen, dripping in sweat.

“Morning…guys.” She heaved in between breathes.

She just made it to the fridge when Ashlyn joined them. “Jesus…Christ…”

Micah laughed and threw her mom a bottle of water. “Told you I was still faster.”

“Wait, you two raced and she beat you? Mama, she’s barely moved at a pace above snail in over a month.” Matt joked as he high fived his sister who was chugging the entire bottle of water.

Ashlyn finished off her own bottle and sat next to her wife dramatically, still trying to breath.

“I…I just…think I didn’t…I didn’t stretch right. That was…that was why she won.”

“I’m sure that’s why, baby.” Ali offered with a quick peck at a safe distance. She had already showered that morning so she was clean and determined to stay that way.

“Or you’re getting old.” Parker stated matter-of-factly. There was a moment of silence before all the kids burst into laughter. The youngest Harris had never made a rude comment toward the mothers before, even in a joking way. His siblings were dying and even the moms couldn’t help but crack a smile. The family was settling back into eating when Micah glanced at the clock.

“Shit!”

“Language!” Both of the mothers responded together.

Micah just stood and grabbed a piece of bacon, cramming it into her mouth before grabbing another one. “I’m barely going to have time to shower and change before school. I told you we should have only ran three miles.”

“You said you wanted a challenge.” Ashlyn answered with a mouth full of food.

“Yeah well that didn’t happen now did it?”

“Don’t worry Mic, tomorrow it will be a challenge to even keep up with me.” Ali joked with a wink.

“Alright calm it down, Mo-“

“NO!” Parker yelled which was seconded by Matt and Ava.

Parker quickly looked at Ali then cupped his mouth in an attempt to hide his words from his mother.

“Mom banned the word ‘Mom.’ Don’t say it.”

Micah nodded, pretending to understand what was going on and just grabbed another piece of bacon before whispering to the older blonde.

“Maybe you should tell her later.”

“Tell me what later?”

Micah shoved the whole piece of bacon in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to answer.

“Micah Grace”

The blonde teenager simply shrugged and pointed towards the stairs before disappearing towards them. Ali then turned to her wife.

“Ashlyn Michelle.”

Ash crammed food in her mouth to mimic her daughter then headed towards her room after mumbling a quick “love you” to her wife.

-

“Hey Matt, how’s it going?”

“Oh you know, just living life.” Matt nonchalantly replied. He and Jacob were throwing a baseball back and forth from their seats. The therapist learned quickly that his mothers were right in the fact that he opens up easier when distracted.

“So just a normal day?”

“Basically. Although, Micah did go running with our Mama this morning. I’m not sure it necessarily had the effect you wanted but she seemed happy afterwards.”

“How did you know I asked her to run?”

Matt caught and held the ball for a second to give the doctor an ‘are you serious’ face which was received.

“Right. You tell each other everything.”

Once Matt started tossing the ball again Jacob continued his questions.

“So school was normal?”

“Normal as in boring? Yeah. I fell asleep in 3rd period so I obviously I’m going to end up behind. It’s pretty annoying how I can do my best to focus in every class and still be struggling yet Micah can miss a month and still have straight A’s. Whatever, she helps me out on homework so I guess it’s not all bad.”

Jacob paused for a second to jot a quick note down then threw the ball back to Matt.

“So tonight’s the big night. Nervous?”

“Why? Because Tyler’s coming? Pssh.”

“Matt, its okay if you are. You haven’t seen him since everything came into light. That’s going to bring up old emotions.”

“This whole thing has ‘brought up old emotions.’ That doesn’t mean I’m scared.”

“I didn’t say scared. I said nervous. Can you honestly tell me that there is nothing that is worrying you about tonight?”

Matt stayed silent for a moment letting the only sound in the room be of the ball hitting their hands.

“Maybe…I’m a little scared about Micah. It was worse for her and I don’t want her-“

“You talk about Micah a lot.”

“Well yeah. We’re t-“

“Twins. I know.”

“We just do everything together. We just get each other.”

“I’m not denying the strong bond between the two of you. I’m only saying that you mention her a lot. And usually when doing so you down play yourself.”

“Like when?”

The doctor caught the ball and placed it on the table so he could flip through his notes.

“You spent most of our first meeting discussing the different ways you believed I should help Micah. You also went into great detail about her injury and how it affected her as well as her past involving Tyler.”

“I told you, I know my sister.”

“But it took up most of our time together. I only had the last five minutes or so to actually talk about you. And here we are again, ten minutes into the appointment and you’ve already mentioned Micah three times.”

“So?”

“Matt, how many fights have you gotten into at school?”

“Since kindergarten? I don’t know, like 15.”

“26.” Jacob stated, pointing to Matt’s file that had his school records.

Matt just shrugged not sure where the therapist was going with this.

“Do you know how many of them were because of Micah? Something she did or something someone did to her. Maybe even something you thought someone did involving her that made you mad.”

“Are you asking me how many of Micah’s little boy toys have I decked?”

Jacob had to laugh a little at the teenager’s bluntness.

“No, no. I just mean in general. How many of those 26 fights where because of something involving Micah?”

“I…I haven’t really kept count.”

“24.”

“Okay?”

“Why do you think that is?”

“She’s my sister and I’m protective.” Matt replied like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“Listen. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. You have a great relationship with your sister, but incase you haven’t noticed, she can handle herself. You don’t need to fight her battles. Do you get why I’m telling you this?”

“Honestly no, because a second ago you were telling me that I talk about her a lot then you continued to bring her up so.”

Jacob cracked a smile and picked the baseball back up, tossing it towards Matt again.

“I’m trying to show you that a big part of life revolves around your sister. You talk about sports and you bring up how many records she’s broken. You talk about school and you bring up how smart she is. You talk about your home life and you bring up just how happy or unhappy she is. Matt, your world doesn’t have to revolve around your sister for you to still be close to her. You need to find your own footing and your own voice.”

Matt spun the ball around in his palm, thinking over the doctor’s words.

“Can she still help me with my homework?”

-

Ali found her wife staring at all the cereal with a serious expression.

“Hard choice, babe?”

“It is with our kids. Matt’s allergic to red food coloring, Parker doesn’t like cinnamon, not to mention how riled up he and Eli gets if it’s full of sugar. It’s just impossible.”

Ali reached around her wife and grabbed a box of Rice Crispys. “Problem solved.”

“See, this is why I hate grocery shopping.”

The older woman gave the blonde a smug look and place the box in the shopping cart. They had to get food for dinner tonight and thought they might as well handle everything else on the grocery list too.

“Do you know what I hate?” Ali asked in a tone that let Ashlyn know that she was in trouble. “I hate when my wife and child withhold information from me.”

“Honey, it’s really not that big of a deal.”

“Then tell me!”

“It’s nothing. The twins just invited Spencer to join up for dinner tonight.”

“TONIGHT?!”

“Alex, please remember that we are in a store right now.”

Ali stopped and placed her hands on her hips. “Oh I see. You waited until we were out in public to tell me hoping that I wouldn’t cause a scene.”

“Maybe.”

“Baby, why would you tell them that was okay? Everyone is going to be here tonight and Lord knows what could happen!”

“It’s not that big of a deal Al.”

The look Ali gave her wife was enough for Ashlyn to back track.

“I mean, it’s a big deal, but Spencer coming shouldn’t be a problem. If anything it might help everyone be on their best behavior.” Then for extra help she added, “Besides, it seems like the boy doesn’t have a good home life. He needs a home cooked meal.”

Ali held her stare for as long as she could before sighing and dropping her hands.

“Fine, but if things turn into a shit show, you get to convince our guest not to call the cops.”

“Deal.”

And it was sealed with a kiss.


	29. This Can't Be Happening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. I'm back. Sorry for going MIA! 2016 sucked for everyone, including me. I joined the Marines, something I've always wanted to do, then ended up destroying my shoulder. After being medically released, I just needed some time so I hope all of you guys that stuck around understand! I'll try to remain somewhat regular with updates until the story is over. As always, I appreciate you guys reading!
> 
> Also this chapter might seem a little absurd. Just trust me. lol.

“I’m canceling.”

“No, Alex, you’re not.”

Ashlyn’s eyes remained closed but she could still hear her wife pacing around the room. After helping Ali clean the house she really just wanted a nap. That early morning run wore her out but it didn’t seem like she would be getting rest anytime soon.

“It’s going to be a disaster.”

“Probably.”

Ali stopped and stared at her wife’s unapologetic facial expression.

“If I was able to actually get some sleep then maybe I would be able to come up with a nicer answer but let’s be honest, our family is a magnet for trouble and drama.” Ashlyn replied dryly.

The blonde began to realize the seriousness of her words when her wife remained still. Ali paced when she was nervous. She froze when she was terrified.

Ashlyn sighed and threw back the covers beside her, “Come here.”

When there was no movement she cracked open one of her eyes and changed her tone, “Please.”

Ali sighed herself before caving and crawling into the bed, resting her head on Ashlyn’s shoulder.

“Ash, we can’t - “

“Shhhh.”

“I’m being serious it - “

“Go to sleep.” Ashlyn pulled the brunette closer hoping it would comfort her enough to relax. It didn’t work.

“My mind won't slow down enough to sleep. I keep going through everything that could go wrong tonight and what I could do to prevent it and I, I just, there is too much. What if -”

Ashlyn once again cut off her wife by dramatically pretending to snore. Ali eventually gave in and tried to will herself to sleep.

-

Ali tossed and turned nonstop until she heard the front door open. Finally, she could quit the impossible battle with sleep. She stretched, making sure to push against her unconscious wife in the process. Once the blonde began to stir Ali ran down the stairs but was taken off guard when half of her kids were already home. She quickly glanced at her watch and saw it wasn't even 4:30. Parker was just dropped off by a teammate’s parents so he should be the only one.

“Um. Thing 1 and Thing 2, why are you here?” She asked crossing her arms over her chest.

“We live here, Mom.”

“Very funny Matthew, why aren't you with your tutor?” She asked, turning up the intense mom stare.

“Wasn’t feeling it today.”

“Oh you weren’t ‘feeling it’? You know what I wasn't feeling? All the C’s and D’s you’ve brought home. We pay too much for you to just not -“  
She stopped when she noticed Micah starting to slide out of sight towards the kitchen.

“Freeze Micah Grace.”

Micah kept her back turned on her mother, weighing her options before giving in and facing the older woman.

“And why aren’t you at therapy? Something else your mom and I pay a lot of money for.”

“Yeah, well, no one asked you too.” Micah argued as she began to softly rub her right temple.

“Excuse me?” Ali asked in a tone that would scare satan. The child was stupid if she thought she was still able to use her head injury as an excuse for this attitude.

“I’m over it! It’s stupid and a waste of everyone’s time. Even Matt thinks so.”

Matt was quick to defend himself. “I just said I had better things I could be doing. Don't drag me down just because you’re drowning.”

“What’s gotten into you two? Is it because Tyler is coming over?”

“Are you serious right now?!” Micah yelled, “Not everything in our lives have to do with Tyler! Do you ever listen? Maybe we just are tired of being forced into bullshit!”  
“Watch it!” Ali quickly warned.

Micah winced slightly before giving up her fight. She just mumbled, “whatever.” and walked towards the back door.

“You’re not about to just leave, Micah. Micah!” but she got no response.

“She’s not wrong.” Matt stated before following his sister.

Ali covered her face with her hands, taking a second to breathe.

_Not today. Please, not today._

She was pulled from her thoughts by her youngest. “I didn't have a good day either! Not that you care!” Parker quickly yelled, running past her to his room.

“Wha… I.” Ali closed her eyes again and turned up the stairs to retrieve Ashlyn.

She took a second to stare at her peaceful wife before throwing a pillow at her face.

“Get up. Your kids have lost their damn minds and we have to cook.”

-

“Eli isn't coming.” Ashlyn informed her ever panic increasing wife. She thought the news would give Ali some relief but her face said otherwise.

“What? Why? Why not? Did you tell him not to?” Ali attacked.

“What…no. You’re the one who told him not to come if he wasn't going to act right. He just texted me saying he’d stay at school.”

“Oh, so he can’t pretend he knows how to act to get through a normal family dinner? Ridiculous.”

“I wouldn’t really call this a ‘normal’ family dinner. Relax. If anything the chances of a fight just dropped.”

“You haven't talked to the terror twins today.” Who were now in the game room with Spencer. Keeping a guest calm was just another thing Ali had to worry about.

“You told me to pretend they were invisible until dinner.” Ashlyn tried to remind her wife but Ali continued with her rant.

“And now Eli? Seriously, who raised these kids?”

“That would be us.”

“It must have been wolves.” Ali responded, ignoring her wife and answering her own question. “Or the Kardashians. It wasn't us. I’ll tell you that! And another thing -“

Ali was finally cut off at the sound of the fire alarm.

“Shit!” Ashlyn ran over to the burning pot, quickly replacing the lid to smother out the flames and jumping to turn off the blaring smoke detector. “I guess the water burned out.”

The couple was so busy talking and cutting the vegetables for the salad that they had completely forgotten about the noodles.

Once she was sure it was safe, Ash pulled back the top. “Yeah, I think these are DOA.” She tried to joke but her wife's eyes just filled with tears. Ali wasn't sure if it was sadness, frustration, or anger but she was guessing it was a mixture of both.

Ashlyn just shrugged and picked up the phone. “Pizza?”

 _Anger_. Ali thought. _The tears are now from anger._

“We are NOT having pizza. Not tonight.”

“Olive Garden? We don't have time to make anything else, Al.”

The older woman took a deep breath and snatched the phone out of her wife’s hand while grabbing the take out menu for the restaurant. “You’re picking it up.”

Before she even finished the order the front door opened.

-

The only noise in the house was the sound of forks on plates. The family had been eating for almost fifteen minutes and nothing more than simple greetings and useless attempts of small talk have passed around the table.

“Please stop.” Ali asked Parker for what felt like the hundredth time. She was already on edge and Parker’s constant kicking of the table leg wasn't helping.

The ten year old quickly rolled his eyes not caring that his parents could see. Ali turned to her wife to see if she was going to handle it but nothing. Ali decided she would just let it slide.  
A few more minutes of silence passed before Ava took the chance to speak.

“Are we gonna handle this or not? Because I lived with Tyler for seventeen years and I’m kinda over doing it again.”

“Well that’s very honest of you.” Tyler tried to laugh but the hurt seemed evident.

“Someone in this family needs to be. We all sit around holding everything in until we snap. It just makes things worst. I mean, Jesus, look at this dinner. How are things supposed to get better if no one will even look at each other?”

The family remained silent, tending to their own plates before Micah looked up, “I’m done with therapy. So is Matt.”

Ali took a deep breath and spoke evenly. “You’re going.”

The teenager loudly dropped her fork throwing her hands up. “See. That’s why no one is honest. We can't be.”

“Micah-“

“You seriously gonna deny it?” She challenged.

Once again the only sound was forks as the mother and daughter had a stare down. That was until the air was filled with a southern accent.

“Damn. Both of y’all are in therapy? So y’all are, what, nut cases?” Spencer asked biting into his garlic bread.

Before either twin could respond the door swung open with a stammering of heavy footsteps. Eventually Eli appeared followed by a strong smell of alcohol. He took in the view of the family before finishing off the large whiskey bottle he was carrying.

“Hello, ‘loved ones’” He spat putting air quotes around the words ‘loved ones.’ “Fancy seeing you guys here.”

Like before, Ali waited for her wife to do something but got nothing.

_Even my wife has lost her mind._

“Elijah, I swear if you drove here like that.” Ali said through gritted teeth.

“No, mom. I flew here.” Eli laughed trying to take another gulp of whiskey, forgetting that it was empty.

“Son. Go shower. Or go to sleep. Just do what you need to do to sober up.”

“Light weight.” Matt fake coughed which got Eli’s attention.

“Bitch, Please!” He retorted.

“Eli!” Ali warned. This boy needed to go.

“Mom, relax.” He laughed leaning on the table. “It’s family night. I’m still family. So I decided to come and be family. You can't be kicked out of family. I mean, if you could I wouldn't be the first to go. Maybe the second but not the first. The first to go would be him.” Eli used to his bottle to point at Tyler, stepping closer.

“Just about everyone here has a right to be mad at me except for you.” Tyler responded, placing a hand on his chest, trying to keep the space between him and his brother.

Eli quickly jumped back getting defensive.

“Touch me and I will break this bottle and stab you with it!”

“Woah! Calm down!” Ali yelled, jumping up, making more space between her kids.

“He won’t do anything.” Micah laughed.

“Shut up, Slut!” Eli barked at his younger sister.

There was a grumble of the siblings processing everything going on. Matt began to defend Micah but was cut off by Eli before given the chance.

“Ah! Save it! You’re nothing but her lap dog. If she was mad a Tyler, you would be too! With your anger problems he’d probably be dead!”

Just then a knife flew across the room and bounced off Eli’s chest. Thankfully it was just a butter knife.

“Micah!” Ali quickly reprimanded.

“Oh, so he can threaten to stab people but I can’t?”

“NO ONE IS GETTING STABBED!” Ali yelled over the growing arguments between the kids.

“Well, Tyler still might.” Eli added, once again getting closer to his target.

“Fine.” Tyler said while standing and taking off his jacket. “Stab me. I dare you.”

The two just stared at each other, inches apart, before Eli dropped his bottle and tackled Tyler to the ground. They were too big for Ali to separate and no one seemed like they were going to help.

“I’m calling the cops.” Spencer stated as he left the family fighting behind him.  
Ali couldn't believe this was really happening. Surely she was just dreaming. There was so much chaos. Eli grabbed his bottle from the floor and broke it over the table. Tyler quickly shoved him off and tried to get the glass away from him. Ali was yelling, fighting to get their attention and looked up just in time to see Micah grab her head again in pain as she dropped to the floor. As she tried to reach her daughter she stepped on a piece of glass, slicing open her foot.

“FUCK!” Ali screamed.

Then she woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any ideas I'm open to suggestions!


End file.
